“Obviously the situation of our breakaway was not ideal. I would have preferred to break with 7 or 8 riders. It’s also one of the final stages of Tour after really hard weeks. Yet we have seen small breaks making it to the finish against the bunch… so I didn’t rule out the possibility of winning. It’s been a team time trial all day long. My breakaway companions were just excellent out there. We all deserved to win because of how much work we put into the break. I’m happy to get away with it. It means so much with the period I had this year since I crashed at Tour de Suisse. I’ve come a long way, and to cap it off with a victory like this is amazing. I dedicate it to all the people who helped me through this hard time, and also to my team-mate Dries Devenyns in his last Tour and his last season.”
