Hope to find my rhythm and help our boys

Are you feeling better? I felt better on Monday than on Sunday. I was working for my teammates, I pushed hard especially on the flat stretches. Then I rode easily over the last climbs but I did my job. I could see some improvement compared to the performance I delivered over the weekend so I can be quite happy in this regard. Have you checked the time trial course? No I haven’t, only Nicolas and Rafa have. After having talked to the team management I am taking the day off. I was planning to ride hard tomorrow but I know now that I will be better off saving energy for the weekend´s stages where I would like to help our boys. I hope to get back into my rhythm until then. Are you tired a lot? Quite a lot, but the fact that I am no longer in the contention is no big deal for me. It can simply happen to anyone and if I had been in the leadership role I would be in much worse situation now. The team announced before the race that Nico Roche would be our team captain. I started the Vuelta with the intention of finding my rhythm and then seeing what my options would be. I didn’t say that I would fight over the front positions in the GC. Is the team OK with that? Absolutely. We all knew that this situation could happen. Now I will focus on helping my teammates in the most difficult moments. Are you satisfied with the team´s performance? Absolutely. We have scored two stage wins and Nicolas has already worn all the jerseys, which is a great achievement. Nico is really motivated, he is very strong in the mountains and he could do really well in the GC. The same goes for Majka. Who is the biggest favorite, in your opinion? The time trial will tell us more, there is still a wide circle of favorites. Horner looks to be on form and I´m not a bit surprised. It can very well happen that he will stay in the lead after the time trial.