
The Arkea-Samsic team worked very well to set up Andre Greipel for the second bunch sprint of the Tour de France in Nancy.
While the German could not be satisfied with this 12th place, the way the day went was very reassuring for the whole team.
Andre Greipel: “My team mates did their best, I did not struggle on the climb, they stayed around me, but unfortunately I did not find the opening for my sprint. I’m 12th, a top 15 is not what I came for on the Tour de France. It’s a shame because the legs are good and I’m not going to have many opportunities to prove it. I’m gonna fight until Paris, I believe in myself.”
Florian Vachon : “It was a very fast finale with a chaotic sprint. I feared I would crash because I already hit the deck once midway through the stage. One crash is already one too many. I wasn’t going fast when I crashed but I was a little shaken, we were still far from the finish and the legs were fine. I was soon back in business, I know what I’m on the Tour for.
There are not may sprint opportunities many and with Kevin Ledanois we have to be sheperd Andre Greipel so I did my job as well as I could. There was no question of not doing it 100%. These are stressful, adrenaline-boosting finales with fast curves. We must take calculated risks.”