"Dean and Hushovd boxed in Steegmans but they were going full gas so I waited and waited and I chucked on the turbo about 100 out and that was it. It was all good, a hard day but good.
"It really wasn't up to us to chase today we had Mario Aerts in the break and Credit had someone in the break so it was really up to Quickstep to chase, and T Mobile wasn't too interested so that's why we didn't catch them.
"The most important thing was for me to win the bunch sprint and I gained some good points today."
Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto, 60th)
Q. Looking forward to the rest day?
CE: I won't be doing much, in fact I'll be doing as little as possible. I may go for a short ride and I'll be sleeping and keeping away from the media. I've been doing this for 13 years so there is no pressure on me.
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Chris Horner is my man and he's getting over his injuries from that fall in the stage a couple of days ago. The race really starts in a couple of days and I'm not going to spend a rest day worrying about what might happen.
Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto, 81st)
"Yeah, the Tour has been going well other than the crashes. I'm getting over that alright and I'll have some hard work to do with Cadel in a few days' time. My form was really good before the start and I was looking forward to getting amongst it until the crash set me back, but I've started to come back now. The rest day is just in time and I should be right for the mountains."
You've got a few hard days coming up riding for Cadel? "You're not wrong; I better go and get that shower."
Michael Rogers (T-Mobile, 52nd)
"No probs mate, a good day for us. We didn't have to work too hard, we put some pressure on the guys from Phonak.
"It was a bit nervous early with the wind, a lot of crosswinds and a bit dangerous. It was a solid day all-round and it's good to get the first part of the tour out of the way. Kessler took the pressure off T Mobile by getting up there early. It was a hard day but we got away pretty much unscathed."
Looking forward to the rest day? "Oh, yeah."
Simon Gerrans (AG2R, 103rd)
Q. Tough day in the office today?
SG: Actually I suffered a bit today; I thought I was stuck to the road. But it was great to get a teammate in the break; it took the pressure off us and even better with Sylvain Calzati getting the win. With the rest day tomorrow, I'm really going to enjoy that champagne taste.
It was really good for Sylvain, he has done a lot of work and he will be over the moon with that. I'm just really looking forward to the rest day.
Axel Merckx (Phonak, 65th)
"If you look at Landis' time-trial yesterday it's pretty clear that he's ready for the challenge. He's sure of his abilities and goes for it 100 percent. We came to win this Tour with Floyd and that's what the whole team works for. Of course, because of that, it will be hard for me to go for a stage win myself but that doesn't worry me. We'll see what opportunities present themselves.
"I can understand Boonen's reaction after the stage today very well. Actually I noticed Tom's nervousness when we were in that break together a few days ago. He's put so much stress on himself. I often talk to him during the race, just friendly conversation, but I can't go and tell him to chill; that's not up to me."
