John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) completed the triple by sprinting to another win in the morning stage of the third day of the Tour Mediteraneen while Stephen Cummings set himself up for a potential overall win with a victory in the afternoon time trial. We have already posted several reactions from the two stages and have gathered a few more below.

From the morning stage:

Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC Polsat, 13th s.t.)

"Although short at only 63km, the morning stage was very fast and nervous. From the very start, the peloton was very nervous, probably because of the wind which was pretty strong today. On the route, we had two climbs. The second, about 10km from the finish, was about 2km long and was rather steep. That was enough to split the peloton. On the descent, however, the groups merged and we headed to the finish as one single group.

"Just before the finish line, Jaroslaw Marycz dragged me to the front of the group and started to look for the best position for the sprint. I was a little swamped by the riders from Giant-Shimano who worked for their sprinter John Degenkolb and I could not to better than 13th.

"Tomorrow is a very difficult stage with the finish on the Mont Faron. We will have a lot of hard work to do to help our leader Davide (Rebellin) who will fight for the win."

Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia, leader of the mountains classification, part of the early break, 108th s.t.)

"I was in one of the first positions from the beginning because I wanted to score points on the first climb (where he was first, ed.) . Afterwards, I didn't want to ride too hard in the break because I was pretty tired. I had been in the break yesterday as well. I am happy to keep the jersey for one more day. There is still tomorrow's stage. I think Cyril Gautier is 2nd in the mountains classification. There are still dangerous riders for this jersey and nothing is done. It will be very hard. But it would really be a great victory for the Colombia team if we can take  a distinctive jersey. "
 

From the afternoon time trial:

Dmitry Konyshev (sports director Katusha whose best rider was Egor Silin in 15th)

“I’m happy about Egor’s TT. This was the first time this year that he’s been on his TT bike. This means his TT can only get better in the future. He’s now in a good position for this race. We still hope to finish this stage race with him in the top 5.”

Oscar Pellicioli (sports director Colombia whose best rider was Carlos Quintero in 31st)

“Fabio did not have very good feelings today, otherwise a better clock would have been within his possibilities. Nevertheless, we remain confident and focused on tomorrow: we will go for the stage with Fabio Duarte and look to defend Pantano’s red jersey, while also relying on a fit and consistent Quintero, who is able to climb some positions in the GC.”

Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani, 17th +0.56)

”Considering some muscle pains due to the crsash in Besseges, I’m satisfied with today. This route was suitable for me, so I went well in the first part but in the final I found headwind and I think in this section I lost the chance to get a spot in the top 10."

Mirko Rossato (sports director Bardiani whose best rider was Stefano Pirazzi in 17th)

"We went quite well considering our skills. Pirazzi still suffers from his Besseges incident but he did a good performance, missing the 10th place by only 10 seconds. Bongiorno defended himself well and tomorrow on the Mont Faron he can move up in the general classification with a great result."