Chris Froome has said that he was relieved to have crossed the finish line on the penultimate stage of the 103rd Tour De France.
Froome who leads the race by over four minutes told ASO: "I'm pretty sore, all my knee and my back, but my legs were better today than yesterday after the crash. I had that four minutes gap to play with. It gave me a breathing space. I just had to stay in front.
"It's a huge relief to cross that finish line. The last 24 hours have been pretty chaotic but my team-mates helped me so much to keep the yellow jersey on my shoulders. It's an amazing feeling [to win the Tour]. It could be like the first one again.”
Green Jersey winner Peter Sagan said: “I was expecting to be the super combative… last year. So, ok, I'm happy with it this year. It seems like the 2012 Tour de France when I won three stages and the green jersey. We made it up pretty well for the loss of Alberto Contador but that's normal because we're among the best teams in the world. I'm happy to finished this last week of mountains and I'm looking forward to tomorrow in Paris.”
King Of The Mountains winner Rafal Majka said: “I'm very cold, very tired but very happy as well. With three stage victories and two distinctive jerseys, we have reversed the bad luck we endured at the beginning. I want to congratulate Chris Froome for his victory but we're also happy with our two jerseys [green and polka dot].”