Mattias Skjelmose (DAN, Lidl-Trek), winner of the 6th stage of Paris-Nice: “I’m surprised to have been able to win. I felt very good all day. This year is my first victory. In the sprint, I played on the fact that I was the lowest ranked overall, it’s not the most elegant way to win because maybe they were stronger than me today.
I hope to stay in this position (3rd overall). The objective was the podium before the team time trial (17th, 1’15” behind the winners), now we are back. There are still some very strong guys behind me but I want to finish as best as possible, whether it’s a top 10 or a podium. I feel extremely strong, I have worked a lot in the mountains and we will see this weekend what it will be like. But at this Paris-Nice, there are guys stronger than me. »
“We suspected that there would be attacks but I didn’t see myself taking the leader’s jersey”
Brandon McNulty, new leader of the general classification
Brandon McNulty (USA, UAE Emirates), Paris-Nice Yellow Jersey: “I didn’t expect that today (Friday). We suspected that there would be attacks but I didn’t see myself taking the leader’s jersey. I’m in a good position but I don’t want to talk about it too soon, with two difficult days coming up. But I am in good shape, with a solid team, I will tell you on Sunday evening if I can win or not (smile).
For this Saturday, the smoother it is, the better it is for me, but a short stage is always chaos, it’s going to be full throttle for everyone. The Nice stage (Sunday) is going to be a little chaotic too, I did it two years ago with already very bad weather, and it will be a very tricky day, you will have to be vigilant. I will do the best I can to defend the jersey and we will see.
At the UAE Tour (where he crashed on the last day when he was 3rd overall), I felt like I was getting sick and it was confirmed on Monday, I woke up feeling really bad. This time, I hope I won’t have any problems. Remco (Evenepoel)? You can never say he’s completely out of the game but it’s good to have a bit of a head start on such a strong guy. »
