Peter Sagan (Cannondale) finished fourth in today’s bunch sprint, but he was satisfied with that, and most of all relieved not to have crashed. Defending his green jersey as leader of the points classification is the most important thing for the Slovak.

“I don’t remember much of the last few kilometres, other than that it was fast! I chose to sit behind Mark [Cavendish], but started to sprint very late. I was very scared when he got close to an Argos rider [Tom Veelers], who crashed. I’m very relieved to have avoided this crash.”

“It wasn’t a finish to my liking at all, but in the fight for the green jersey, I have to do everything in my power to lose as little of my lead as possible. I lost some points today, but not many; I think it’s a good result. It’s normal for me to lose a few points in a stage like this.”

“I don’t respond to any particular opponent and it’s impossible to know whether Greipel, Cavendish or someone else is my most dangerous rival. A crash could change everything in the points classification.”