Alexander Foliforov: I Did Not Expect To Win

Alexander Foliforov has said that he did not expect to win after the Gazprom Rus-Velo rider took the uphill time trial win on stage fifteen of the 99th Giro D'Italia.

Foliforov said: "This is unbelievable. It's like a dream to win this stage. I came to the Giro well prepared for this stage in particular because uphill time trials have always been my forte. I did my best but I didn't expect to win. However, this is not going to be my last victory".

The Maglia Rosa wearing  Steven Kruijswijk of Team LottoNl-Jumbo said: "I really wanted to win the stage as well. I finished second yesterday as well. I heard towards the end that I was close to the victory but most importantly I gained time over my rivals on GC. I did everything for that and I'm confident that I'll be able to defend the Maglia Rosa during the last week".

FINAL RESULT
1 - Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom - Rusvelo) - 10.850 km in 28'39", ave. 22.617 km/h
2 - Steven Kruijswijk (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo) s.t.
3 - Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) at 23"

JERSEYS

• Maglia Rosa (pink), General Classification, sponsored by Enel - Steven Kruijswijk (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo)
• Maglia Rossa (red), Sprint Classification, sponsored by Algida - Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek - Segafredo)
• Maglia Azzurra (blue), Mountains Classification, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum - Damiano Cunego (Nippo - Vini Fantini)
• Maglia Bianca (white), Young Rider Classification, sponsored by Eurospin - Bob Jungels (Etixx - Quick-Step)