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EFE · Road Competition · 08/09/2020
Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadier), defending champion of the Tour de France and current white jersey of the race, highlighted the stress experienced in the peloton on the tenth stage, between the Ile d’Oleron and the Ile de Ré, in which there was fear of a wind that was not the protagonist either.
“We all knew it was going to be a stressful day, we knew there would be wind and there could be fractures, so we have been going very fast all day, with a lot of nerves and a lot of stress,” commented the Ineos leader at the finish line.
The day saw some falls and some cuts in the peloton due to some fans, but Ineos stayed in the top positions at all times so as not to be surprised.
“It was mainly nerves, because at the end there was not so much wind. Still everyone wanted to be up front. Fortunately none of our riders suffered any falls,” he said.
Miguel Ángel López: “The team worked perfectly”
Also Colombian Miguel Ángel `Supermán´ López (Astana), ninth overall, 1 minute and 15 seconds behind the leader, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), highlighted the work of his Spanish teammates Gorka Izagirre and Luis León Sánchez to save a A stressful day in which the possibility of fans put the nerves in the peloton from the beginning.
“The team worked perfectly and I had the support of my teammates throughout the day. In the end, Gorka Izagirre and Luis León Sánchez helped me to get ahead and avoid risks in the last kilometers.”
The Astana leader celebrated the fact that none of his teammates had suffered a fall. “It was a difficult stage with a lot of crashes in the peloton, but we were lucky and no one in our team fell. With the support of my teammates I had a good time this tough day.”
Mikel Landa: “It has been a very stressful day”
The Spanish Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren) spent another page of the Tour de France without news, on a tenth day marked by stress from the beginning that barely allowed the Basque cyclist to drink.
“It has been a very stressful day from the beginning, so I am happy to be in front. It was a tense day, I didn’t even have time to drink,” said Landa at the Saint Martin finish line on the Ile de Ré.
Landa celebrated the fact that the results of the PCR performed on the peloton in the last two days have yielded negative results for all 165 runners of the Tour de France.
“In that sense it has also been an important day. There was fear of some positive, but we see that things are being done well. We have to continue like this until the end.”
Before the day of this Wednesday, of flat profile, Landa hopes “a calmer day, but we will see”.
Imanol Erviti: “In days like today, the danger is felt”
The also Spanish Imanol Erviti (Movistar) pointed out at the Ile de Ré goal that the dynamics of his team is upward and recalled that they are “competitors and always” want “to be protagonists.”
“We are a team of competitors and we always want to be protagonists. Today was not a day to win the Tour, but to lose it, and we wanted to run very attentive, united, and for the strength of the group to help us save the day as best as possible. “, he claimed.
“We have been in good dynamics throughout this Tour, working as a group, with camaraderie, sacrificing ourselves for each other … The swords are at the top and we have to keep fighting in this second half of the race,” he added.
The 36-year-old cyclist from Pamplona and with 11 participations in the French event, highlighted the danger of the tenth day, disputed between the Isle of Oleron and the Isle of Ré.
“On days like today, the danger is felt. I don’t know how many falls there have been, but there were a lot of street furniture, signs, islets … and it has been a real stress. We have worked all day to cover Enric (Mas) and in that final part we had to go safe, that’s why we took the lead of the pack, because there was a lot of tension, a lot of danger, “he said.
Erviti highlighted the work of his team in the last kilometers, where tension prevailed due to possible cuts. “It was a key area, Ineos had already tried it a few kilometers before. We all know the points where it is going to cut … but we all don’t fit. I think we have done well to get there, because the race has been very upset. Everything The day has gone tense, I don’t know if it could have been appreciated on television, but there have been a lot of handlebars, a lot of stress … A very, very difficult day, but happy to save it, “he stressed.
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