Michal Kwiatkowski had a quiet day in the saddle on stage 9 of the Tour de France but was left stunned by the performance of his teammate Tony Martin who took a solo victory. The Pole was impressed by Martin's ride that came just one day after he had saved Kwiatkowski's GC campaign in yesterday's stage.

Yesterday Tony Martin played a key role in supporting Michal Kwiatkowski who had a bad day in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France. However, he still had enough left in the tank to produce an outstanding ride to win today's stage.

Kwiatkowski was full of admiration of his teammate.

"I'm very happy, especially for Tony," he said. "He helped me a lot yesterday. He motivated me when I had a hard time. He spent a lot of energy at my service and yet, he was able to do what he did today. It's amazing. Only Tony Martin can do such things.

"We were kind of laughing in the peloton when we heard that he only had thirty seconds lead but it was enough for him to beat his chasers.

"Tomorrow, we have seven mountain tops with the Planche des belles filles to finish. I know it from a recognition one month ago. I will fight for GC. I understand that Romain Bardet is motivated for taking the white jersey from me but I'll fight."