Sagan: I'm Happy With That One

Last updated : 13 July 2016 By CNS Sport

Peter Sagan has said that he was happy with the win on Stage 11 of the 103rd Tour De France.

Sagan said to ASO about his win: "When we rode away with Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, we had no breath to talk. All we could say was ‘go, go, go'. We started to go, then we worked together.

"It was impressive also for me. It just happened. It wasn't planned at all. Yellow jersey and green jersey at the front, it's unbelievable how the breakaway was formed.

"It was a crazy days with wind and crashes. I don't if it's my best victory at the Tour de France but for sure it's a special one. I've won a lot in a nice way also out of the Tour de France.

"I'm very happy with the way I won this one with the help of Maciej Bodnar and Team Sky. It was a very nice change that people were working with me, usually nobody does. I thanked Froome after the finish.

"Despite the big finish there'll be for him tomorrow, he made a big effort today. I would have liked to let Bodnar win the stage but Froome wanted to take a maximum of seconds so I to go for the stage win because that's what we had worked for. Today we're not actors, we're artists!

"I hope people have fun watching me racing, while I was just suffering doing that.”

Chris Froome said: “I was asking myself in the last ten kilometers: is it worth it? At the moment, I try to get time on my adversaries anywhere, knowing that Nairo [Quintana] is usually very strong in the last week. So whenever I manage to take seconds on him, I will. For the time being, I'm just enjoying my racing. To be in the yellow jersey is a dream scenario. It's bike racing at its best. I attack downhill and on the flat just because I enjoy it, I'm not forced to it because of the pressure. As a team, we ride very well together. Today, the guys positioned me at perfection, that's how I could go after Sagan.

"To be honest, I don't think the ascent to the Ventoux being shortened will change the race much. Climbing to the Chalet-Reynard is already very hard and there might be even more wind than today with even more possibilities for the bunch to split before the climb. The change of finale will only make the racing more intense because it'll be shorter. To win even at half-way to the Mont Ventoux remains something special but at the back of all our minds, there'll be the time trial of the day after. Anyone going too deep will pay for it later. From now on, every GC day will be raced in consideration with the day after. Maybe my rivals will try to take seconds on me on the Ventoux, everyone has a tactic, but I'll keep the time trial in mind.”

Adam Yates said: “In the finale, Team Sky set straight away they were going to give a go. Fortunately I had big strong guys like Matthew Hayman to keep me out of the wind. Hats off to Froome and Sagan for what they have done. I expected guys to attack but I didn't expect Froome to be one of them. The way he takes seconds every day, he'll be hard to beat [for anyone]. Tomorrow I'll just do my things. If I'm on a good day, I'll ride at the front.”