I think I must be crazy. Third stage win at the Tour de France. That is absolutely crazy. But I must say, that today was the most difficult of the three sprints. I had to spring alone through the gap which developed in front of Renshaw to get to Kristoff’s rear wheel, otherwise there would have been nothing. He was going all out and it cost me a lot of strength. And when I got on his wheel, I saw that there was still 200 meters to go. Pooh. I don’t want to tell you what went through my head (F... this!). But then i got control of myself and just took off – scared of being passed from behind.

A lot of people have come to me and said that we are unbeatable. Today everyone saw how difficult it is to win stages at the Tour de France. So many details have to be just right and you have to be lucky, too.

Our lead out didn’t work today. But the team still worked well. Thank you, guys. The finale was very hectic, super fast because of the Omega train and there were a lot of corners, where we sort of lost each other. Our Plan B is that I get delivered as far forward as possible and then make my own way through. I am overjoyed by and proud of this win. You might not have seen this at the finish, but I was also simply totally exhausted.

I also had to use Plan B for my hair. Yesterday my hair gel was confiscated at the airport security. What a disaster. But at least I had another one in my checked bag. The hairdo has to be right!

Tomorrow we will ride for Dege. I am looking forward to the stage, even if it is supposed to rain and so will probably be dangerous. But I am simply looking forward to giving him something back for everything he has done for me on the previous stages. If I can, I will keep him out of the wind as often as possible.

Photos: roth-foto.de