Giant Alpecin's Simon Geschke described his victory on stage seventeen of the Tour De France as a dream come true.
Geschke rode away with 47kms left to take the stage in Pra Loup and speaking about his victory, he said: “I didn't feel great. I joined the breakaway group together with John [Degenkolb], which was a strong group.
“After the sprint I attacked and started the final climb with an advantage. I had 1'30" for a long time, and I thought I’d just see what would happen.
"I knew it was a difficult descent and I went pretty fast. On the last climb I gave it my all and was able to hold on to my advantage. I suffered incredibly but I cannot put this feeling into words.
"This is a dream come true. After so many attempts it finally happened. I cannot believe it."
Peter Sagan of Tinkoff Saxo admitted that he was working for Alberto Contador on the stage and said: "This morning, I wanted to be in the breakaway with the intention of helping Rafal Majka, Michael Rogers or Alberto Contador in the finale. We found each other in the downhill.
"It was stressful when Nibali attacked. When Alberto crashed, I gave him my bike and he took another bike for the final climb. I feel sorry for him that he didn't manage to regain time."
Movistar's Nairo Quintana said that he will have to attack sooner if he is to shake off race leader Chris Froome. Quintana said: "I couldn't go faster in the downhill of col d'Allos. I've seen the crashes so Alejandro and I preferred to play safe, for Alejandro to make the podium and for the teams classification.
"From that point of view, I'm satisfied with today's result because this classification means a lot to us. During the race, we decided to neutralize Contador's attack because he's a real threat for Alejandro's podium placing.
"Today I was almost at 100%. I didn't manage to dethrone Froome but now there'll be stages that suit me even better. Climbs will be longer and harder.
"I'll have to attack from further out. We'll keep attacking. Our team is very strong. Our goal remains the yellow jersey."