Quotes
Stage 15
34| Quinn SIMMONS
Quinn Simmons: "A step in the right direction"
“It’s super nice to have my parents here. They’ve come to all my four Tours de France. I’m trying to win one stage while they are still here. At least today I’m on the podium - that’s a step in the right direction! I was pretty far from winning, though [laughs].
I always become better and better towards the end of Grand Tours. I think it’s my physiology. I really struggle in the first week, and then ride into the race. I’m just happy I’m still going on that note this year.
The team has made it obvious that...
Stage 15
33| Mads PEDERSEN
Mads Pedersen: "It was a tough week"
"Honestly, it was not too bad a day. We hoped actually that the 17 kilometres before the sprint would be harder, but it wasn’t enough to make a difference. In the end, it was a tough week, losing a bit too much points, but I’m still 31 points ahead and now we’re going into a week where the points are better positioned for me. The rest of the day was good, hanging on for as long as possible and taking it easy from there. Nothing is done. It’s gonna be a fight all the way to Paris. Wednesday is good day for me so I need to be full focused for stage...
Stage 15
1| Tadej POGACAR
Pogacar: "It’s really sad to see that Jonas is out"
"It’s really sad to see that Jonas [Vingegaard] is out. Since 2021, we’ve always been battling out for the victory. Maybe in the beginning we didn’t have the best relationship, but in the last two years we became good rivals, with respect, and I also think kind of friends. The Tour will not be the same without him.
It helped us a lot that the break didn’t form in the first two hours. Then Visma decided to go for the stage I think, and it was perfect. We had Adam [Yates] at the front, he could go for the stage. Chapeau to Quinn Simmons, he was...
Stage 14
33| Mads PEDERSEN
Mads Pedersen: "It has been a really good day"
"All in all, it has been a really good day. We knew how the sprint would go and in the end I was there to score 20 points, losing 5 to Jasper [Philipsen] and gaining 4 on Biniam [Girmay]. That was decent. As for the mountains afterwards, I followed the peloton until I was told to sit up and take it easy to the finish. I’m now looking forward to a tougher intermediate sprint tomorrow. I’m not worried at all about the time cut in these mountain stages."
Stage 14
41| Richard CARAPAZ
Richard Carapaz: "My legs are getting stronger every day"
"We’ve been very active right from the start because we knew this was a good opportunity to fight for the stage win. On the final climb, we saw that I had barely a minute’s lead over the peloton and realised it was going to be a stage for the general classification contenders. The result is what it is; we’ve tried our best, and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved.
For me, today’s stage was a positive one. We fought hard right up to the very end, trying to secure the win… but it was a very tough race. There was a lot of tension...
Stage 14
1| Tadej POGACAR
Tadej Pogacar: "I’ve never seen something like this"
“Today I must say thanks to all the fans who came to the side of the road. It was something unforgettable, seeing all these crowds on the hills. I’ve never seen something like this. Thanks to all. We have a massive respect amongst riders and I think we all put on a great show. It’s nice to see this kind of racing.
I knew Isaac [del Toro] was not at his very best so I was waiting for the last 2 kilometres to see if there was movement, but Decathlon CMA CGM set a really hard pace on the climb. Guys dropped one by one. I felt good. So I thought I would...
Stage 13
171| Tom PIDCOCK
Tom Pidcock: "There’s positives and there’s some disappointment"
"There are a lot of positives to take from today, yet I’m also here to win a stage and it didn’t happen today. It was close, but no cigar. It’s just good to be racing. As a team, we did an amazing job. I am very pleased with the boys. They worked really hard, and I tried to repay them with a win. It didn’t work out, but I did gain a lot of time in the GC. There’s positives and there’s some disappointment.
I’m going to lose a lot of time in the time trial, that’s for sure. I’m going to keep doing what I’m...
Stage 13
33| Mads PEDERSEN
Mads Pedersen: "It was just all out until we made it to the front"
"It was not ideal [when Jasper Philipsen was at the front]. First we saw a big group and we were like: ‘Okay, it seems like there is no sprinter, so all good, all points are gone’. And then I was told on the radio Philipsen was in. The hard work really started from here and it was full full gas for an hour and a half to get back. First, we were pulling in the peloton. And when we stopped, a group went, so it was just all out until we made it to the front. It was a really tough day. All in all, I would say it was a good day of again, sadly, damage control in the...
Stage 13
31| Juan AYUSO PESQUERA
Ayuso: "Tomorrow will be a different day"
Juan Ayuso is still leading the young rider classification and wearing the white jersey after Stage 13.
"Tom [Pidcock] is a super good rider, so you don't want him gaining time. He passed me in the general classification, but the gap is ,ot big, so it's OK. I would have preferred not to have him so close, but it's all right.”
“Tomorrow will be a different day. Today was really hard, averaging 50 km/h on a stage like this is quite impressive. Riders like me suffered because of the high speed over such a long flat period, so tomorrow the climbs...
Stage 13
1| Tadej POGACAR
Tadej Pogacar: "It was even better for us to have Tom in the front"
“It was a really tough day, a fast one, and I’m happy that it’s over. You need to think quick and today we managed things well. It was all good, we had everything more or less under control. We knew it was gonna be a tough day for us anyway. But in the end, it played much better than I expected.
It was even better for us to have Tom [Pidcock] in the front because other teams had to chase. We could sit on the wheels a bit in the last 30 kilometres.
Markstein is a nice place and I’m really looking forward riding it again tomorrow and to...
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