Tour de France – Stage 11 – Today I am happy because my sensations were quite good in spite of the heat –

The second stage in the Pyrenees did not encourage the favorites to make any serious attacks after the exploits seen from Christopher Froome the day before.  Fatigue associated with the extreme heat came to calm to ambitions of Contador, Quintana, and Nibali.  It is for that reason that Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), who was a member of the day’s main break, was able to hold his advantage and take the stage win solo in Cauterets ahead of Daniel Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) and Emmanuel Buchmann (Bora-Argon 18).  Never attacked by his immediate opposition, Chris Froome (Sky) is still firmly established in the overall lead.  For its part, IAM Cycling has found satisfaction in the fact the Mathias Frank succeeded in finishing with the group of favorites, and as a result jumped three places on the overall classification to 12^th.

Relaxing after an ice water bath that he took in front of the team bus, Mathias Frank, who finished 18^th on the stage, welcomed the result that he has had on this difficult day.  “Today I am happy because my sensations were quite good in spite of the heat.  There is no comparison between today and yesterday.  Of course, we all have to deal with the same problem with reduced watts in relation to our usual numbers, but it must all be seen in the context of the extreme temperatures we have had in recent days.”

“Even when you are on holiday, or just sitting and resting, it is difficult to stand such a heat wave.  So you can imagine what it is like to try to climb these cols and still give your maximum.  And there won’t be any let up tomorrow when we ride towards Plateau de Beille.  I hope to recover well enough so that I can ride well and even hang on the wheels of the favorites.” 

Having arrived within the time limit, Matthias Brändle talked about how much pleasure he has discovering the Tour de France despite the suffering he has had to endure throughout the day.  “I am very happy to be here and I have enjoyed every meter traveled.  I climbed the Aspin well, but after that I found myself in difficult on the Tourmalet.  I will suffer more and often this week since I am not a climber.  But I am determined to give my ultimate every day so that I have the chance to see Paris and the Champs-Elysées in order that I can have the best memories from my first Tour de France.”