"We saw that Gallopin was in that group but we were not going to kill our team to keep the jersey. The most important thing was to save energy for tomorrow's stage," he said.
"Tomorrow will be another great finale between Vincenzo and Alberto at La Planche des Belles Filles. This yellow jersey was a present for France," he added jokingly in an allusion to tomorrow's Bastille Day in France.
Team director Giuseppe Martinelli added: "We did not lose the jersey, we left it. It was a good move because we need to keep strength for tomorrow.It will be the toughest stage in this first part of the Tour. Before the start we would have dreamt to lead Contador by 2:30 at that stage."
Interview
July 13
th
2014
- 18:57
Vinokourov: "A present for France"
