The Belgian looked back on the Tour de France’s first half.
“After a hectic stage like the one of last Sunday, where we went full gas on the gravel roads, a rest day was welcome. I think it’s something that everybody in the peloton needed after nine stages. I had a slow breakfast, an easy ride with my Soudal Quick-Step teammates and then tried to recover as much as possible.
It’s been a great race so far for our team. The start from Italy was incredible, something I will always remember. Getting a distinctive jersey, and especially that victory in the time trial, made me happy and confident for the next two weeks. I like being part of the Tour and living the experience it comes with it, I’m having fun and I hope we’ll continue to get some more nice results.
Many of the stressful stages are history now, but we must remain focused, stick to our plans and continue to believe in ourselves. I know that in just a couple of days we’ll take on the Pyrenees and it’s very likely that the real battle for the general classification will commence there. The hardest stages of this Tour de France are yet to come, but I have better legs than at last year’s Vuelta and I am looking forward to those climbs and to being in the mix there. I have a good team, which kept me out of trouble so far and knew how to manage the nervous moments in the race, so I am confident ahead of the next challenges.”
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Our road wolves
Remco Evenepoel 