Christophe Riblon – “Last night I would not have bet a euro on me...”

“I was really disappointed with my start of the Tour, because I wanted to do something overall, and it did not work. Especially the last two days were very difficult, and I was almost depressed. Then [AG2R La Mondiale’s directeurs sportif] Vincent Lavenu and Julien Jurdi talk to me at length, explaining that I’m usually in good shape by the third week of a Tour, so I had to take my chances and go in a breakaway. They gave me morale, but last night I would still not bet a euro on me.
“In the final I did not want to say ,‘I won’. I constantly repeated to myself, ‘I'm going to win’, but I did not want to be sure, not until the last kilometer. I remembered last year when I wondered how Brice Feillu had done what he did to win the stage to Andorra Arcalis. We were behind, and I do not understand how we failed to reel him in – how could he have stayed ahead when there were riders chasing him down. Now I realize why he could do it. When you’re alone in front, with a few kilometers to the finish, the support of the public helps to carry you and it encourage you, it transforms you and gives you strength. I gave everything and I felt I could not lose.”