(Alejandro) Valverde is going to drop some bombs. And if it ends up finishing in a bunch sprint I'm not sure Petacchi will get his Italian train going, |
(Alejandro) Valverde is going to drop some bombs. And if it ends up finishing in a bunch sprint I'm not sure Petacchi will get his Italian train going. |
[After yesterday's crash in the Tour de Rijke, Quick.Step's Tom Boonen managed to train for around 100 kilometres on Sunday morning.] This morning I woke up a little bit worried about the potential consequences of yesterday's fall during the G.P. De Rijke, where I hurt my knee, ... Fortunately the knee was not swollen. When I started to ride my bike, I understood that the problem was not serious as I feared. I trained for around 100 kilometres without problems, forcing and doing some tests on the knee. Tomorrow I will do a long training ride and then Wednesday, as scheduled, I will fly to Granada. In the Tour de France I was unlucky, yesterday not. |
Alejandro started to go for the line about 300 meters out and I just kept on his wheel and eventually managed to get past him. |
Everything was fine before the final sprint. My team mates had done a great job and suddenly my chain slipped, I nearly went over and crashed. |
First you have to be in a good position, then enter perfectly the last corner. Then you have to get out of the corner with enough speed. And only after that, you sprint straight away. It is going to be a very hectic and hard sprint. |
For me, the Tour started today and I really wanted to win a stage because, after next Sunday, there will not be that many chances for sprinters to win stages and the man in the green jersey might take it to Paris, |
I crashed and it hurt a bit, but it did not affect the sprint. I was on the left, he was on the right. |
I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose. |
I don't want to look for any excuses, some riders were just better than me. |
I had felt it coming. My legs felt really tired on Monday and Tuesday as well. |
I have a feeling I can go on do well the remaining stages as well. With my team's support, I think I can dominate this Tour. |
I like this race. I won it two years earlier, one year after having crashed right at the finish line. I have great memories, because this race offered me beautiful moments at the start of my career. |
I thought there was a huge gap between me and some of the riders, but I was able to finish like I normally do with a flourish. But I tell you it was a hard day for me and my team. Actually I am a bit surprised that I was able to win. |
I was unable to move up one gear but I still managed to keep pedaling and win that great sprint as you all saw. |