Quotes from Stage Seven of the VUELTA A ESPAÑA
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp, 2nd): “I wish I knew why I crashed. We were in the break, going twisty to the side, all day through cities, De Marchi was yards in front of me, we were going at the same speed, we were comfortable, working as a group all day… I was following him and suddenly my tyre was just gone. I don’t know how fast we were going but I went straight to the head like that… I’m disappointed. I’ve worked hard. I had a chance to win today. I did my possible. It’s frustrating.”
Hubert Dupont (Ag2R-La Mondiale, 3rd): “De Marchi and Hesjedal were above us, we got kick butted all day! Rapidly I understood that I was racing for third place but a top 3 in a World Tour race isn’t bad at all. If it’s windy, tomorrow, I’m gonna have my ass kicked again because of the efforts I’ve produced today.”
Philippe Gilbert (BMC, 5th): “I’ve suffered a lot at the beginning of the Vuelta, now I’m going better. I want to leave the Vuelta in good condition but I also want to win a stage, I’ve become used to that. I’ve missed two occasions to win but there are more to come. I’m happy to have won the bunch sprint today, it’s a good sign.”
Chris Froome (Sky, 7th): “I’m feeling okay but you definitely get the feeling that when bad luck comes it comes more than once. But all things considered I’m feeling all right and I think I got off relatively unscathed. It’s good to have another day behind us now. When the crash happened a Giant-Shimano rider went down in front of me just to my left. I swerved to try and avoid that and went down. Then the guys paced me back. It took us a good 15km before we got back into the peloton. I’ve even gained two seconds on the finishing line! I’ll definitely take that after a stage like today. At the end of the race you might need all the seconds you can to defend your place. I’ll keep chipping away and get closer to the time trial.”
Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge, fifth on GC): “It’s a dream come true to be racing at the front in a Grand Tour. I’ve worked every day for that since I joined this Orica-GreenEdge. It’s a wonderful team that has given me the tools to do things well after the bad year I had because of my arm injury. There are still some movements in my everyday life that I can’t do but I can ride my bike. The team trusts me. I’ll do all I can to end up in the best overall position.”