"It was a very hard start. It took very long for the breakaway to forge. At some point, it was only 20 or 30 riders left in the first group - just to give you an idea of how hard the pace was. In the end, we were happy with the breakaway that went clear, as there were not any GC guys and it was Mathieu to take the Yellow Jersey instead. We had everything under control until the very end - that one-second gap to give the Yellow away was on the limit, and not calculated!
It is a good move to let the Yellow Jersey go. The Tour de France can be very long, and there are so many tough stages to come. Tadej was feeling really good today, but it was not the day to create any time gaps on the GC. As for me, I’m super happy to take the polka dot jersey back."