Chris Hamilton looks back at stage 15 where he finished eighth from breakaway: "Today was a lot harder than I expected"

With the goal of getting it into the break to play for the stage win the team rode well with Chris Hamilton making the move; and battling to a strong eight place at the end of the day.

"It was pretty hard today, a lot harder than I expected it was going to be," expressed Hamitlon. "We were pretty confident that it was going to be a breakaway day so we just went all-in for that. After the past few days I was suffering quite a bit and I honestly felt not great today either so just to be there I was pretty surprised, but we can take some confidence from that. Then I just suffered as much as possible and did what I could in the final. It’s not a podium or something but I’m still pretty happy with how I got through the stage and managed to get another top ten for the team."

Team dsm-firmenich coach Phil West added: "It was like warfare today. Directly from the start the race was full-gas. We had the goal to be in the break or the move that finally went. It was a real war of attrition in the end. We were present and correct and had Romain and Chris in the spots they needed to be."

"It was a real fight and then a really select group came together, before a new breakaway went and Chris bridged across to the front. We tried to make a fight of it on the final climb and in the end Chris came in eighth. It’s a really nice result actually in a high-level front group. The teamwork again was on point by the guys, but I think after today they’re all looking forward to the rest day," he concludes.