Reaction from Mads Pedersen:
"We didn't know this morning if it would be a breakaway or a sprint but it really looked like sprinters' teams didn't want it to be a breakaway day so we stayed calm and the boys did a perfect lead-out today. Even with the long sprint, I still had the legs to finish it off. I tried a few times early in the stage but I realized that they wouldn't let us go so after that I just hung on and tried to save some energy. When we crossed the line, I knew I had won but, oh man, it was a long sprint and this uphill kick was really painful. I was so close to sitting down with 50 meters to go and I think Jasper [Philipsen] had to do a pretty good sprint to come from behind and make it that close as well. Tough one but it doesn't matter if you win by two meters or one centimeter, a win is a win and that's the beauty of the Tour de France.
"The team did really good today. All the way from Juanpe and Cicco pulling to this moment at the end, it was a really really good day for us. I know this morning I said I missed a little bit of speed but this final was more about power and that's definitely there and I showed that today. I am just happy I could give the boys the victory after some mistakes, let's say, on my side the last couple of days. It's nice to be on the top.
"I'm not a normal sprinter, we saw that on the previous stages. I can't compete with these guys in the high speed sprints and if it's not timed to perfection for me, in those kind of sprints, I can't do it. But, in a sprint like this, where it's a bit more about power instead of speed I have a fair chance and we saw that today. Even though Jasper was coming with speed from behind, he had a hard time passing me.
"It was tough in the last five kilometers. Mattias was pulling for, I don't know how long, but it was really impressive and then Tony took over. They were riding really smart and using the road to perfection and, the length of the pulls they were doing were also really impressive today and then, with the last kick up here, Jasper delivered me perfectly and I just had the wheel of others guys who can do a long sprint. Jasper [Philipsen] came pretty fast from behind but luckily I had enough to hold on.
"It means everything to finally have a stage win here now. As I said, it's really hard for me to compete in these high speed sprints and we have to do it to perfection to win them but here, it's more than speed, it's also about power and I know I have that to win sprints. It's also a bit easier to time right with the uphill here so it means everything to me to win and especially with the new sponsor on the jersey, it's a nice way to start this relationship."
Mads Pedersen on Mark Cavendish:
"Mark is such a legend in cycling and it was really sad to hear in the radio that he had to abandon the race after a crash because I would have loved to have seen him win this 35th stage and then I could get his jersey after that, he still owes me a jersey. I feel really sorry for Mark and I just hope that he will come back in the season and that I can do his last race with him. It would be a real honor for me."
