Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott): “I’m happy with my performance. I extended my lead so as far as I’m concerned it was a very good ride. I was not worried about today because I’m slowly improving in my time-trial. I’ve worked a lot. I’m not afraid of time-trials and I actually quite enjoy them. But we have a long way to go. I’m wary of the coming stages, especially tomorrow and Andorra (stage 20). It’s still a long road to Madrid. I’m expecting some hard days. Our rivals are still very close. I still don’t know why I cracked on the Giro. I hope not to have a day like that of course but it’s always a possibility. I’ve had a different preparation. I’ve been looking to build form during the race because I also have an eye on the Worlds. I feel about at the same level. The sensations are very good. Sometimes the best defence is offense. It depends of the race situation but if there are seconds to win in the finales I need to go for it.”
