“Have you doubted during these three months since your fall at the Tour of the Basque Country?
Every day I thought I could do it, and then I thought I couldn’t. It’s changed a lot in the last three months. I’m just happy to be on the start line of the Tour de France, it’s a victory for myself. I can’t wait to start the race now.
How did you experience these three months?
It was the hardest moment of my career. In this situation, you just think about fighting rather than feeling sorry for yourself. That’s what I did, with my family around me, my team. We made a good plan to rebuild myself, everything done to try to be ready for this race. The hardest part was physically, getting back to the same level, because I had to take a long break, two weeks bedridden and that’s not ideal for fitness, I had to wait to really train. We’ll see about the long-term effects, I don’t know what it will be like in the third week, but I hope to improve during this Tour.
“From now on, everything is just a bonus.”
What will your ambitions be?
To get the best possible result in the general classification. But I’m honest, it was a very bad crash, so being here already makes me happy. I’m going to fight to hang on, and maybe I’ll find my best level later. From now on, everything is just a bonus.
Do you think you can win the Tour?
To be honest, I don’t know. I’ve worked a lot, and worked well, and I’m not in bad shape. I have hope, I’ll fight for the victory, but we’ll see. If I get a good result, I’ll be very happy.”
