We looked at each other and went for it

Can you tell us how your move 30km to go happened? It just happened spontaneously. The Omega Pharma-Quick Step team and the Belkin squad were setting quite a high pace. We were quite well positioned and all of a sudden, we noticed that the pack was getting strung out and many riders were getting dropped. Our team was at the front and we sensed we could seize our chance. We simply look at each other and went for it. And then you were riding hard until the finish… It was like a team time trial. Everybody was contributing to the pace-setting, including myself and Alberto. Mollema and Ten Dam were not so cooperative because they knew they were outnumbered and Cavendish with Sagan marked each other for the sprint. But we expected that and it worked out quite well. Were you planning to go on an attack before the stage? The Omega-Pharma-Quick Step was the first to put the hammer down in the cross-winds. There was a really strong wind and I don’t remember the last time when a team blew a Tour stage apart in the cross-winds like we did today. When an opportunity presented itself we just tried to take the others by surprise. What do you think of Valverde´s mishap? It is never a pleasant thing. When he had the mechanical our team wasn’t pulling, so our conscience is clean. But the others kept pushing on. We started hitting the gas around 30K to go and it was already clear that Valverde and his teammates wouldn’t make it. Do you think you put the Sky with Froome under pressure? The question should be directed to them. We just proved what we said after the time trial that we would keep on fighting. The Tour ends in Paris and anything can happen until then. Everybody knew that we have a really strong team and today we just proved our case.