"It was a really hard day. We started with cold weather and a big group tried to break away. The first two hours were full-gas. Then we manage to ease up a bit, but afterwards the last kilometres were quite fast again. Actually, I don’t know what we were doing in that final acceleration. I was just following wheels. Anyway, it was a good warm-up for tomorrow. Tomorrow it’s the hardest day of the Tour, so let’s see. I did a reckon of [the routes of] tomorrow and the day after, so I know the climbs. It would be better if I hadn’t seen them! [laughs] I’m not worried about the climbs, but I know it will be a very hard day."
