Top 12 quotes from the first week of the Tour de France
It’s been a thrilling and unpredictable first week of the Tour de France. After seven of the 21 stages here’s a look back at who said what during the first week:
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“Tactics? Nerves, stress, risks — all these are more important than
tactics in cycling.”
— Nairo Quintana’s Movistar boss Eusebio Unzue waves his arms at a
reporter’s question.
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“I’m in there with the big guys.”
— Climber Thibaut Pinot, best bet to deliver a first French Tour de France
victory since 1985 after doing well in both the time-trial and the big mountain stage.
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“No one can ever take this away from me, it’s mine forever.”
— Little-known stage-one winner Mike Teunissen on his overall leader’s
yellow jersey.
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“Eddy said it was a clear win, I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.”
— Dutch journeyman Teunissen again after winning a photo-finish with Peter
Sagan on stage one and getting his yellow jersey as overall leader from the
great Eddy Merckx in Brussels.
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“Cyclo-cross is getting more and more popular.”
I heard Cyclo cross is in style atm so I tried a bit of this and hopefully it brings me good legs like @WoutvanAert @mathieuvdpoel and others…. pic.twitter.com/71rh0qapt9
— Andre Greipel (@AndreGreipel) July 11, 2019
— Burly German sprinter Andre Greipel after carrying his bike up the 20
percent slope on the La Planche des Belles Filles dirt track.
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“There is no way Geraint was five seconds behind. It was a matter of 30 metres.”
— Ineos boss Dave Brailsford after defending champion Geraint Thomas
suffered a slight blip at the steep Epernay finish, losing five seconds to
Egan Bernal and Pinot.
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“It was five seconds. Trust me. Our technology can measure to a millionth
of a second and take 1,000 photos per second.
— Official Tour time-keepers Tissot told AFP Brailsford was mistaken.
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“I came to the Tour de France for something better than that, I want
revenge.”
— Frenchman Romain Bardet was left feeling ashamed of his performance on
the staggeringly steep La Planche des Belles Filles climb where he lost over a
minute in just 800m.
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“We didn’t come all this way to give up at the first upset.”
— Bardet’s defiant boss Vincent Lavenu.
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“From the moment I got off the bus, all the way to the finish line it was
just overwhelming.”
— Julian Alaphilippe was cheered all day after embarking on stage four as
the first French rider in five years to wear the overall leader’s yellow
jersey.
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“Cruising through the champagne region with the darling of France.”
— Thomas in a caption on Twitter placed beneath a snap of himself and
Alaphilippe on stage five.
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“At last! At last I have done what I set out to do.”
— Elia Viviani after his first ever Tour de France stage win on stage four
gave him a clean sweep of wins on the three Grand Tours.
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