“When I came to the Tour, I never thought about being on the podium or fighting for the podium. I knew I am in a good shape and now I’m third and I have the white jersey, I can only be happy.
We are a team and we discuss things together. So far, I’ve showed that I’m in a good shape but Primoz [Roglic] is the leader. We are super close. He will tell me what to do and what’s the plan for the coming days. He showed yesterday in the TT that he can perform really good and I believe that he is a guy for the third week and for sure we’ll see something great from him.
It was sad to hear [about Remco Evenepoel retiring from the Tour]. He was one of the main favourites for the podium. I feel sorry for him but we need to focus on our ambitions. The team’s goal is to be on the podium of the Tour, and we have to see who will be fighting for it, Primoz or me.
Two weeks are almost done but everyone knows the third week is the hardest. The stages look very tough with a lot of climbing. We have to see how the legs are. I hope they stay the same.”