Vuelta a España leader Tom Dumoulin has said that he is happy so far with how the 70th edition of the race in Spain has gone.
At the rest day in Andorra, Dumoulin said: "I am doing well. Yesterday we had a long transfer to the hotel, so we got to bed late. The rest day is an easy day. We went for a short ride to Andorra, which was nice.
"I am very satisfied with the course of the race so far, as it has turned out far above my expectations. Especially my stage win was unbelievable and very special for me. Also the red jersey is great and a really nice bonus. If someone would have told me two weeks ago that I would win a stage with an uphill finish and have the leader’s jersey on the first rest day, I would have said he was insane.
"Today we will have the hardest stage of this Vuelta, and at the finish we will know more. Normally I would say that it is too much for me, but stage 9 was also not typical, so we will see. We showed on Monday and the days before that we have a strong team that takes responsibility as well, and we can be proud of that. We will fight for it and go full gas to the finish line, and then we can draw conclusions."
His team mate John Degenkolb said: "I am doing fine at the moment, enjoying the rest day and trying to recover and relax as much as possible. We have had a nice Vuelta so far with the success of Tom and the team, and spirits are really good.
"I’m a bit sad that my stage victory is still missing. I was really close a few times, but I am confident that the win will come. I am feeling better and better, which is also a good sign ahead of next month’s world championships.
"Now a lot of climbing is coming up, so I’ll just have to survive. After that there will be some sprint opportunities as well, and we hope to win more stages. There will be opportunities until the closing stage in Madrid, which we won last year."