"It's amazing. I'm literally trembling with emotions. It's been a hell of a day, a pretty hard stage. I was feeling bad in the beginning but I got better and better during the day. You have to understand that I'm racing with the best rider ever, and he's been doing a hell of a climb to win this stage with Isaac [del Toro]. For me it's a big step forward that I can follow this pace, because it was a crazy hard pace. I get so many criticisms, ‘he can't survive this type of climb’, so it feels amazing for myself and everybody around me... It means a lot.
I was not really expecting any attack from Isaac anymore but he did a pretty hard attack in the final. For me it was the perfect way to make my sprint. I tried to keep my momentum as hard as possible to the finish line, to win this beautiful stage. It’s amazing to get this victory and go to the rest day with this feeling. When there is an opportunity you need to grab it with both hands. It’s my first proper mountain stage against this GC group. It shows my step forward and now I have to keep it for the last week because it’s not over yet, but it’s a really nice win.
It's really bad news for Jonas [Vingegaard], his team and the race that he’s out. It's something you never wish for anybody.
Now we have a good rest day and then a beautiful day on Tuesday, where I will try to go for another stage win. It’s amazing that I found my best legs in this Tour. I hope to recover well and go into the last week."
