"It was hard. Obviously the way this race is going, everyone wants to go in the breakaway, and the GC group is smaller than the front of the race for most of the day. Everyone expected Carapaz to go. Sepp [Kuss] went first, and Carapaz jumped across. I followed the others, but I just missed ten metres on top of Monachil, the first time, and then the gap just exploded out by the time I waited for the group behind. That was it, really. We focused on protecting the white jersey. We had a really strong team again today. We had most of the guys up the road, so we could connect with them at different points. They really pulled hard. I thank them, not just for today, but for the whole race. They’ve been really incredible. The support they’ve given me deep into the stages has been something incredible."
