"But the guys looked after me perfectly, even in the final I ended up on my own just because they put me in position and used a lot of energy to keep me up there.

"The next two days should be pretty tough, I think today everyone was expecting to have an easier day before the two big mountain stages, but BORA-hansgrohe had other ideas and we rode pretty much full gas from start to finish. It was a hard day for everybody."

I arrive on the first rest day with a stage win, which is added to the one obtained in the first stage by my teammate Kristoff. I am happy with what we have done so far in this Tour, with only one off-day on the 7th stage”

“Of course, yes, I was scared when I was along against the two Bora Riders. At the end of the stage when they were the only ones left with me and I saw they were close, I tried to follow for a bit. But then I worked and worked and gave everything on the climb. With 5km to go, I saw they were both struggling, and I could see that Kämna couldn’t hold his sprint and I knew that I could beat him.

“When we knew that Neilson Powless was with Schachmann, I kind of relaxed. But then he got dropped and I had work hard to bring him back along with the other riders in the breakaway. Once I was alone with Kämna I decided to set my pace and go full gas until the very end. I felt like Max Schachmann would be quite a bit stronger than me in the flat and downhill sections, but I managed to bridge back to him with 2km to go.

With the reduced peloton all back together heading towards the day’s final two climbs, Team Sunweb put their plan in motion with Tiesj Benoot launching a stinging attack on the opening ascent. Benoot was caught and after a lull in pace more attacks flew on the second climb. Stage-winner Hirschi was alert to any danger before he himself launched an attack, drawing some competitors clear. When the pace slowed once more, Søren Kragh Andersen delivered the perfectly timed attack, with a devastating turn of speed to get clear of the bunch. Utilising his time trial and descending skills to perfection and with the team halting any chase behind, Kragh Andersen could sit up and put his arms in the air as he crossed the line - taking a sublime second stage win for Team Sunweb at the Tour de France.

Jumbo-Visma set a very high pace and maintained it throughout the stage, which along with the heat meant it was better not to attack. In the final, I waited for the sprint and took another beautiful victory. Some of the GC guys were dropped and this was due the effect of the pace set by Jumbo-Visma. Tomorrow we’ll have the rest day, then I’ll try to give my best again: at the moment, Roglic seems unbeatable, but anything can happen, anyone can have a bad day, as happened today to Bernal or as can happen to me or to Primoz”.

With a two-pronged approach of setting Cees Bol up for the finish, or following any dangerous moves in the finale, the team had several options to play. When a big group of 12 riders escaped, Nikias Arndt and stage 14 winner Søren Kragh Andersen excellently infiltrated the move for the team. With the peloton sitting up it soon became clear that those ahead would fight for stage honours. Sensing his moment to strike, Kragh Andersen produced a stunning attack to go clear on the right hand side of the road, with no one able to follow. As the gap continued to grow, Arndt did the perfect job behind to slow any chase - allowing Kragh Andersen enough time to sit up and celebrate as he took Team Sunweb’s third 2020 Tour de France stage win in Champagnole.

During the time trial I felt that I was going strong and this spurred me even more.

My dream as a cyclist was to participate in the Tour de France, winning it definitely goes further”