Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious), stage winner on Eurosport:
"I've always dreamed of winning a stage at the Tour de France. What has happened in our team in the last few weeks because of Gino (Mäder; editor's note) - it brings up all the emotions. It's incredible to have won the stage. It was always my dream - now I have a Momument and a Tour stage win. I am very happy. It wasn't until the last kilometre that I believed I could win the stage, because I had Wout van Aert behind me. So I had to go full throttle right to the end. The fact that it worked out is incredible."
Drivers are tired after the first two weeks
Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total-Energies), third on Eurosport:
"I'm not feeling so good, I'm totally tired - not just now at the end, but also throughout the stage. But you realise that everyone feels like that. I took good care with my diet today to make sure I had something to eat right up to the finish. At least I managed 3rd place today, which is good. The whole breakaway group worked well, in the end the best riders were at the front. I'm very happy with today, it went very well. I've worked a lot in these two weeks, at least it paid off today."
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), at Eurosport:
"It was a bit tight in the one place today. I couldn't keep my handlebars under control and crashed. But I'm okay and I hope everyone else is okay too. I was a bit tired today, it was a very tough race for everyone. At certain moments you might not be as attentive, and then crashes can happen because of fatigue. The guys were great today, even on the last climb when UAE picked up the pace. We continued to ride our race."
Yates climbs up the rankings
Adam Yates (Team UAE Emirates), on Eurosport:
"It was another tough day. I tried to help Tadej (Pogacar; editor's note) on the last climb, then suddenly I was alone. I didn't really know whether I should ride away myself and what I should do. I climbed one place in the overall classification, which was worth it. So it went well today and we still have a week to go. We'll have a rest day tomorrow and then look ahead. We'll keep trying."
Tom Pidcock (Ineos-Grenadiers), on Eurosport:
"It was exhausting today, just exhausting. Carlos Rodriguez did a really good job today, just like he was outstanding yesterday. He really impressed me. I felt a bit sick today and just tried to stick with it on the last climb. It's really tough at the moment."
