Simon Clarke (Education First-Drapac): “It’s just amazing. I’ve worked so hard since the last time I won a stage here (in 2012) and I just couldn’t repeat it. It took a long time to get back there. My stars aligned. Today I knew I had good legs, but in a break with so many riders the cooperation is never very good. As we saw, the winning move went on the descent. It was a tricky one to pick. I grew up on the tracks since I was 15 and in the last kilometres it was like track racing. I knew that De Marchi is fast, but with such a long stage it’s so hard to sprint. I was even cramping when Mollema attacked. I was so worried with the chasers behind, but in these situations you have to stay as cold as ice.”
