"I’d say it was a good day out. It was a hard, long stage. It had a bit of everything - rain, stress, short kicks… I felt good towards the final, and my team did quite fine as well. I’m very happy I’ve taken a strong 2nd place. Mathieu was stronger in the final sprint, so chapeau to him. It’s hard to beat him in the sprint. To be honest I messed up a little bit, because I got a bit scared to sprint against him and I waited too long on his wheel.
I wasn’t expecting to claim the polka dot jersey, but here I am and I will enjoy the day in this jersey tomorrow. I’ve won the Tour de France KOM classification twice in my career, but I have only worn it once over the five Tours I’ve done. It’s going to be my second day ever in the polka dot jersey, and it will be a special feeling.
We could expect Jonas [Vingegaard] to attack after what we saw in the Critérium du Dauphiné, and it’s nice to see him do it. He made us suffer."
