“I attacked hoping for a big breakaway to form. I’d rather be at the front than chasing in the peloton. In the end we were only three ahead and, as my radio was broken, I could not receive instructions from the car or information on how the race was unfolding. Until the team car did not reach my group, I did not know what to do. In the end, given the situation, the smartest thing was to stop and wait for the peloton. Of course, losing two teammates in one day will change our Tour de France. I don’t know how much we’ll have to change our strategy, but of course it will affect us. We’ve had a lot of bad luck today. But we were a strong team and we will continue to be a strong team. My crash next to Steven Kruijswijk? There was something on the road, someone slowed down in the peloton, Steven could not do it on time... and he went to the ground. It was a stupid fall. As soon as I got up, I saw that he had hurt himself. I waited a little while for him to try to get back together, but he couldn’t.”
