Roche: "I'm happy for Sam and for myself"

Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb): “Today has been more stressful than we thought. The team did a great job on keeping ourselves at the front. The unexpected came with 50km to go, with teams trying to put us under pressure. It was a fast finish, so it was important to be on your toes for the final kilometres. It’s quite special (to have another Irish win the stage with Sam Bennett). Last night, Sam sent me a text and I said: “Man, you need to win tomorrow.” We spoke about it today, that in social media there was some buzz about him winning while I was in Red. I’m really happy for him. He was under a lot of pressure to get a stage win and he’s done it. And I’m happy for myself to be able to keep the jersey. We have a similar scenario tomorrow and I have two favourites: Sam and Max (Walscheid). Im taking things day by day and I’m here to support Wilco Kelderman for GC as he is in a great condition.”

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