Pierre Rolland – “I have 10 more good years ahead of me...”

“It feels good to cross the finish line. I was afraid of an incident on the closing circuits, when my team-mates stayed around me, and if there was a concern that I might have to change bikes. I had trouble to sort out everything that happened during the last three weeks. Today many riders congratulated me in the bunch, and I talked a lot more about the victory at Alpe d'Huez than about the white jersey. This is not a stage that I won, it is ‘The Alpe!’ I'm not saying it is above the other, but I’ll cherish it a lot. I beat Contador, but I think he made many mistakes. If he had attacked on the final climb, he would certainly have won.
“I knew that I had the ability to do some beautiful things at the Tour and I was ready. A month ago, when we had an update about out goals, I said I wanted the white jersey. Jean-René [Bernaudeau] told me that was very ambitious – there were still some very big contenders like Robert Gesink or Rein Taaramae. For a moment I set aside this objective, since we had to defend the yellow jersey of Thomas. His yellow jersey has clearly impacted on the team, it is also what allowed me to be at this level.
“Winning the Tour de France? Why not? But I am not a gifted cycling. I am someone who works hard and it’s very difficult to imagine all the sacrifices I make to get where I am now. I know that I will give my best to set the highest goals, and I’ll have no regrets on the day I stop my career. And I have 10 more good years ahead of me.”