Ben Hermans: "I can win this race"

August 15 ^th 2015 - 19:02

I think I was always one hundred metres behind Taaramäe in the climb. I knew there was head wind with 1.5km to go. I could have come across earlier but then I would have exploded so I stayed in the wheels of my team-mates, then in the last kilometre it was always tail wind so I went full gas, thinking that I might blow with 500 metres to go but I had to do it if I wanted to win. Eventually, I didn't explode. It was a really good move. I had to dig really deep. It's amazing to win a mountain top finish, especially knowing that the victory awards ten seconds bonus and the leader's jersey. It's really incredible. Now I can win this race. I just need to save my legs tomorrow. I have a strong team. We still have to compete but I think it's possible to retain the jersey. My rivals have to drop me before the finish and it won't be easy. For them to take all time bonus is next to impossible.