“This a huge advantage for us to be sitting in this position after on flat day out on the road. But this is a three-weeks race and things do change on a daily basis. We're ahead today but who knows what's in store for us for the rest of the week.”
“I'm very thankful to my team-mates for keeping me in front all day and especially when it mattered, when the split took place. Everbody was talking about how Froome was not going to hold off today but it wasn't to be. I'm glad it happened the way it happened and I had all the support from my team-mates when it mattered. Two days gone now and I couldn't really hope for more”, he said.
Froome said he was surprised to learn that the other leaders, and especially title-holder Vincenzo Nibali had been dropped.
“It was chaos out there with the storm, the wind and everything. One second, Nibali was next to me and the next I couldn't believe it when I heard he was distanced. It's the nature of racing here in Holland.”
The Briton singled Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard as the team-mates who most helped him in these tricky conditions.
“This is their playground, this type of classic style stage with crosswinds and rain. They definitely proved their worth today.”
