On Wearing the first Maglia Rosa designed by Paul Smith: “It means a lot to me. Two weeks ago we were speaking in his office, and I promised him I’d try my best to win it on Stage One. Paul’s a great friend of mine. He’s been a great supporter through good and bad and you can see he’s a great cycling fan. I’m really happy to wear it after all the work he did to design the jersey for the Giro.”

“There were one or two crashes but I don’t think it was excessively dangerous. It’s nice to have a circuit race, and it was a really nice circuit today. I really enjoyed myself. I didn’t expect so many people. I didn’t expect so many people.”

When did you learn you were the new race leader? (Puccio is on the same time as most of his team-mates. He leads the race because the sum total of his placings in Stage 1 and 2 is lower than that of any of theirs): “It was only two minutes before we celebrated the stage win on the podium that I realized I was the new Maglia Rosa. To tell the truth, we planned to put my team-mate Dario Cataldo in either Maglia Rosa or the Maglia Bianca today. When they told me I was the new Maglia Rosa, I was a bit shocked, but also very, very happy. It all happened so quickly that it hasn’t really sunk in yet and I think it will be hard to sleep tonight.”

“My team car told me I had a few seconds advantage, but I knew there was a descent ahead, and I am a good descender. My head was clear and I descended to the best of my ability. I heard that there were falls behind me, but we were all on the limit on the descent. 8km from the finish, I looked back and realized my advantage was big enough to win the stage.”

“I was just trying to finish the stage without letting a gap open that might put my Maglia Rosa in danger. Today it wasn’t about winning the stage, but keeping the Maglia Rosa. Either way, I didn’t have the legs to sprint.”

The crash: “I was well positioned with a team-mate [Angel Vicioso, 2nd today] who wanted to sprint. I was there to help him and get a good placing myself. Logically, the riders who wanted to get round the corner first took a few risks.I saw the fall, and luckily, I landed on my feet.”

Hansen also has Italian bloodlines, “I can’t speak Italian but I come from an Italian background. My grandparents migrated to Australia from Fossano. They settled in North Queensland, where my mother was born, into a sugar cane family, although they were related to the Italian Ambassador in Australia. I have dual passports, Italian and Australian.”

The opportunist: “We knew it was a complicated stage because of the terrain, and in the end it became a real battle with Vini Fantini and Astana, with Nibali, making the racing. Paolini found the going hard, Urán had to work for Wiggins, so I took my opportunity.”

Dedication: “I dedicate this Maglia Rosa to my team. The Team Time Trial went very well for us, and since then, they’ve been working hard for my benefit. I dedicate it to my family and friends, to those who were with me in moments difficult.”

Tomorrow’s long time trial: “I’ve done OK in time trials in the past, but I’ve never really raced a time trial so long. I rode a 45km time trial at the Vuelta once, but not really racing it. There are much better specialists here than I am: Wiggins, Nibali, Hesjedal, Evans, for a start. If I keep the Maglia Rosa, then good. But even if I lose it, I’ll still be doing my best.”

“This was a difficult time trial, with lots of changes of rhythm. It favoured the climbers. I thought riders like Hesjedal and Evans would do better over such a long time trial. I was strong over the first 25 km, being lighter, and they came back later. I’ll certainly try to defend this Maglia Rosa, and they will certainly try to attack it.”

“Although I’m a time trial specialist, I decided that yesterday’s time trial was very hard. I looked at the road book and I thought a breakaway might get away today, and I thought it would be better to save my legs and try to get into it. I thought that was the best use of my energy.”

Who leads Sky now, you or Wiggins? “We’ll have to wait and see. Today was a hard day. After rest day, some riders feel good and others feel bad. It was the first test in the mountains today. This morning we talked as a team and decided that I would attack to see what the response would be. The team is strong, everyone’s healthy. We’re stronger than other teams in the climbs. Today it went well and I hope it continues like this.”

Will Wiggins work for you? “He’s a pro. I’ve known him for 3 years. He’s in good form. He’s had one or two physical problems but the team is working well.”

Can Nibali be beaten? “Nibali is strong. He’s in great shape, he’s knows the Giro very well, he’s strong in the rain and a great descender on wet roads. He’s in top form. We’ll have to wait for a sign of weakness, and then attack.”

All over for Wiggins? “The Giro is still very long and there are some very important stages to come. For many today, the stage was hard, because you sometimes pay for your day of recovery. Urán and Wiggins are at 2 minutes 04 seconds and 2 minutes 05 seconds, so I’ll have to keep an eye on them both. Then I don’t know – it depends on Sky’s tactics. We’ll try to intuit their moves.”

Astana’s ride today: “The team worked hard in the early part of the stage, then Kangert and Agnoli pulled on the last climb. Tiralongo is recovering after being ill, but now Aru has fallen ill. The wet and cold of the Florence stage knocked him out. We’ll try to get him back in the next days. But Agnoli was always close to me today, dropping back to catch his breath when Sky were riding fast at the front.”

The Breakaway: “Everyone could see that there was a good chance of a breakaway forming today. That’s why it took so long for the breakaway to form. The first part of the stage was on a descent and into a headwind, so it was difficult to open a gap. When we hit the long climb, the racing changed. The breakaway formed and everyone knew it would get away. The best guy in the General Classification was 10 minutes down, so the contenders could took it easy in view of the big stages that are approaching.”

The attack with Daniel Oss: “He’s a good rider. He was in the breakaway, so he clearly had good legs. I didn’t know how strong he was going to be on the last climb. We worked together until the climb began. While he was leading, I tried to see how he was feeling. I accelerated a couple of times to see how he would respond, and I saw that I had better legs. I made one attack, then a harder one, and then I saw I was alone. Then I tried to pace myself. The gap was never huge and right until the end I hoped he would get a second wind.”

A symbolic stage: “The racing was pretty tranquil today. A breakaway got away and we controlled it from behind. As for the history behind today’s stage, the Maglia Rosa and the Giro always embrace the history of every stage start and finish, so it was certainly in the back of our minds.

Controlling the race: “It isn’t the first time I’ve done this. When I won the Vuelta [in 2010], it was very difficult and I had to fight to the end to win it. Here, I’m taking it day by day. The road is long, and there is stiff opposition. Urán looks strong, and Scarponi tested himself a bit on the final climb, although the gradient wasn’t really enough to thin out the group. But the team worked very well all stage. We had everything under control. Tiralongo has recovered from his bronchitis, although Are is still very young and will need more time.”

Riding on a small team: “I’ve had the fortune to ride for big teams like Lampre, and then BMC, when it was Number One in the world, On the other hand, you don’t get many opportunities to show yourself when you ride beside great champions like Evans, Gilbert, Hushovd, and Ballan. At this team, I’ve rediscovered the rider I was in the lower categories. To ride well, I need people close to me who encourage me and make me the centre of their focus.”

A Sicilian in the cold: “With the years I’ve come to realize that I don’t ride well in the cold. I get most of my results in May and June, in the heat. But you don’t notice the cold and the rain when you’re leading the race. It’s worse when you’re in the peloton. Today, the sun was shining, it was a mythical stage, and I’m happy I made it all the way today.”

A win foretold? “To a degree, I planned today’s move. All Giro I had been hoping to get into the breakaway on one of the really mythical stages. I told my father and friends that I hoped to get into a fugaccia [a special break] in a tappaccia [a special stage]. I’ve never before felt what Vincenzo [Nibali] feels, riding these stages at the front. Today I felt it.”

Pantani Stage: “In the final kms, you saw me crying, but for the last 3 kms I was crying inside. I knew I could win the stage. I thought of the coincidence of finishing near Marco’s memorial. We share the same birthday. I thought of him and asked him for the strength to finish. Someone said to me today, a circle is closed. A year ago I quit the race on Stage 15, today I won Stage 15. I hope that from now a new career starts for me.”

The Best Nibali ever? “I think I have the same form as I had last year at the Tour, but the Tour is different from the Giro. At the Tour there were fewer possibilities. The finishes were the bottom of hills, there were two time trials totalling 110km. Here the race suits my style.”

First, the Maglia Rosa, now, a stage win. “Above all, I came to the Giro with the goal of raising my hands at the end of a stage. The Maglia Rosa was very important for the team, although losing it during the time trial at Saltara left a strange taste in my mouth. Today I got my stage win.”

The final descent: “I accelerated where the road surface was good, to close the gap. On some corners, there were rivulets of water, and I didn’t like the conditions, so I didn’t take any risks. At one point, Scarponi missed a curve, so I rode quite carefully and just kept a watchful eye to make sure nothing happened.”

On Kangert’s performance: “2km from the finish, I told him to attack, to win the stage and neutralize the time bonuses. The team wants a stage win. He’s in good shape, and we’ll see whether he has a free role in the mountain time trial. He’s having a good race, and he’s always been beside me in the mountains.”

Scarponi on the attack: “Scarponi is a few minutes back [Ed’s Note: 3m53s], so he has to look for opportunities in every stage to try to win back time. Cadel is much closer, and he will certainly try something in the mountains. But I want a stage win. The most important stages are Mori-Polsa, Val Martello, and Tre Cime, although I know it’s going to be very difficult.”

A stage win? “I’m only thinking about winning one stage, so whether it’s tomorrow or one of the mountain stages on Firday and Saturday, we’ll just have to see. It’s always hard to win, but it is also very hard to defend a very important jersey like the Maglia Rosa. I hope to gain something else on my rivals. If I can win a stage, I’ll certainly try.”

“I’m addicted to winning, its simple. Since I was a child, in everything I did, it wasn’t enough to be the best I could be, I had to be the best of everyone. Then, when you have a team around you, dedicated to you, you have to give 100%. I’m paid good money and I have to win so, if someone comes along and beats me, I go home and work harder and come back faster.”

“Today has been a day of many emotions. It’s like the final day of the Tour: along 200km of the stage, it was spectacular for the crowds along the road: it was inexplicable, incredible, and a great pleasure for me and all cycling.”

“Since I started my season in Argentina, it has been a very good year for me. I’ve had some of the best results of my career, and I hope this Maglia Bianca is the start of even better things in the future. Even so, Urán is a rider with a great future, a great climber and fast against the clock, so I think he’ll probably beat me to becoming the first Colombian to win the Giro.”