Tour de France (Étape 5), Nairo Quintana 14ème
The expected and feared cobbled stage of the Tour de France lived up to its promise. Solid around its leader, the Arkéa-Samsic team was represented by four riders in the final with Warren Barguil, Hugo Hofstetter, Lukasz Owsian and Nairo Quintana. The latter is 14th in Arenberg, and moves up to 19th place in the provisional overall classification.
Photo GettyImages
On the line
“As we expected, this stage was a nervous one because of the cobbled sectors. The Arkéa-Samsic team did an impressive job throughout the day. Our team was very close, I was well looked after at the decisive moments of the race by my team-mates who supported me well. I would like to thank them. We were strong and this allowed us to be with the majority of the riders in contention for the general classification. I am satisfied that this stage is now behind us and that it went well for me and the Arkéa-Samsic team”.
“A stressful and nervous stage, but everything went well for Nairo, which is the main thing. That was the objective. We did what we had to do for him in view of the general classification”.
The débrief’
“This morning at the briefing I insisted that Nairo should never be alone, but should be supported by his team-mates, which was the case. The instructions were followed to the letter and we were never caught off guard. The team was in the game to be an actor of this cobbled stage of the Tour. On a day like this, it is important. We even decided to ride in the final because some leaders lost time today. It’s a good block that ends on this Tour, we are where we wanted to be. 1st objective of this Tour fulfilled”.