“Every win is important and special in its own way. It was such an incredible day today because this team Garmin-Sharp shows such a team spirit. Everyone gave 100 per cent today and some of the guys nearly missed the time limit because they gave so much for my victory. We decided this morning on the bus that I was going to try and win the stage and we've succeeded so it's incredible.
“It's hard to describe how it feels; it's more relief actually because I knew I was the favourite coming into the sprint [against Jakob Fuglsang] and I was quite confident... but I still had to do it. So to come across the line knowing that I've won a stage of the Tour de France is amazing. In the end, the scale of the event wasn't on my mind – it was just another bike race. I was so focussed on his wheel and beating that guy in the sprint that I didn't even look behind once to see where the peloton was. It was just a case of focus on the finish line and get there first.
“I think there was a calmness that I developed in the sprint, rather than confidence. I've always had that sort of calmness, like when I won the ninth stage of the Vuelta it was much the same sort of feeling. In the big situations I seem to be able to relax very well and just be in control and it pays off.”
