Simon Geschke: “I’ve been dreaming about this since I started cycling”

It's incredible to win a stage of the Tour de France. I've been dreaming about it since I started cycling. But it wasn't easy. I'm not a sprinter, I'm not a climber, I'm just an all rounder. I got selected by the team to help in the first week and take my chance in the second or third week. It's a different tactic to race for a bunch sprint victory or the stage on the cobblestones with John Degenkolb or a top 10 with Warren Barguil. We were used to winning the first stage with Marcel Kittel in the past two years. That took pressure off the team. It's been harder to reach success this time but we never lost hope and the atmosphere in the team was always good. Nobody expected me to be the first stage winner of the team.
I've had good results in Grand Tours before but always through breakaways. Today, had I stayed with Richie Porte, Thibaut Pinot or Andrew Talansky, they would have dropped me in the long climb (col d'Allos) so my only way to win was to go away before the climb. The downhill was really challenging but it's part of cycling. I was at the limit at the top of the climb. In every curve, I paid attention and it went well.