Tony Martin -

“I was happy that I didn’t crash but if I did, I’d be pleased if the bunch waited.
“Tomorrow is another race and if there’s a really big crash we’ll have to decide what to do. I don’t think it will be like it was today; I hope that everything will go well and we’ll have a normal final.
“It was no protest today. It was an act of solidarity because the Schleck brothers needed a lot of time to come back after a big crash – and also some other big favorites – so I think the peloton decided that all riders would finish together. It was our decision to go to the finish together. We knew that Chavanel was three minutes in front, so why would we take the risk for second place? We also had to consider the dangerous descent. The win was going to Chavanel and we decided to take it easy.
“I think we had some bad luck. There was some oil on the corner [on the descent of the Stockeu]… also one motorbike crashed so it was an abnormal race.
“As we rode to the finish I told Cancellara that I’m sorry for him, to lose the yellow jersey because of such a bad situation. It’s a bit of a shame.”