Yvon Ledanois: "The first mountain stages will set the trend”
Nairo Quintana is 18th in the general classification after the time trial. In Châteauroux, tomorrow, a new stage for the sprinters.
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ON THE LINE WITH…
“I gave everything I had in this time trial to achieve the best time possible. I think I was consistent throughout the whole course which was quite demanding. The mountains are coming up at the end of the week and the team’s main objective is to win a stage, so we will do everything we can to achieve this“.
“This stage was demanding. It’s an exercise that I like, after all it’s the Tour, the race that brings together the best riders in the world, including the rouleurs. But as I like the exercise, I like to enjoy the time trials. My legs were OK and I had a good feeling when I was forcing the right lines without taking too many risks in the corners. The goal is to win this stage at the Tour, and we all want to achieve that. We all want to achieve this goal“.
“My nephew was there at the side of the road, and I am also the godfather. I had fun on this stage and I didn’t take any risks because the road was wet. This beginning of the Tour is placed under this weather sign. I feel better today, because yesterday it was not so good, but today I was a little bit better. I am also happy with the number of spectators who come to cheer us on every day, it makes you feel good“.
The débrief’
“The result of this time trial is not catastrophic, I would have preferred that Nairo lost a little less time, about twenty seconds. The judge of peace will be the first mountain stage which will show the strategy of the Arkéa-Samsic team in the next days. Nairo is in the match with the climbers and I think that the first mountain stages will reveal a lot”.