Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), 2nd on stage, 4th overall +11', White Jersey
"To wear the white jersey in the Tour is a really nice moment for me. I wasn't sure after I crossed the line if I had taken it or not,” Pogačar said afterwards. “Wearing the white in the Vuelta was special but this is even more so.
"Today's stage was not so hard but the final part was full gas. Primož was a bit faster than me in the final but I'm happy with my result."
"The team is good - [David] De La Cruz is still recovering from his crash but he's getting better. Everybody’s motivation is really high.”
Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), 5th on stage, 1st overall, Yellow Jersey
“As I’ve said, the objective is not to win the Tour de France but to chase stage victories. I’m very proud to be in the yellow jersey but our plan won’t change.”
“It was a very hard stage. I’m very proud of my team and I have to thank them, they worked great today and controlled the race until the foot of the final climb. But I don’t want to ruin the team either, we’re not here to control the race for three weeks. We’re just happy to be in yellow again tomorrow."
“It’s always special to wear yellow but it’s very different to last year. I’m more relaxed compared to last year."
“I was missing a win but I got one and to take yellow too was great. But as I keep saying, we’re taking things day by day. I’m hugely proud to wear the yellow jersey but it’s not the end of the world if I lose it.”
Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), 7th on stage, 6th overall +17'
It was really fast and a really short climb, punchy in the final. It was a good climb to see how the GC riders are," Bernal told reporters afterwards. "I was happy to arrive with them because it was really hard."
"The aim was not to lose time, and I'm pleased not to be losing time on Roglic."
"It's not good when another GC rider gets some seconds, but I think we need to be patient. The best scenario is to reach that third week in as good a position as possible and then try to recover what's lost on the long climbs of that week."
"We want to be as fresh as we can for that third week. All 21 stages matter."
Emanuel Buchmann (BORA-hansgrohe) - 17th, +9' on stage, 17th overall +26'
"I felt OK until 1.5km to go, then they started to go really fast and I was a bit too much behind. And then, I couldn't follow, it was a bit too much.
"I don't have any pain anymore, it's getting better and better. I'm not at 100 per cent now but I hope the next days it will get better.
"There's still along way to Paris and a lot more mountain stages.
Contenders that lost time
Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) was the biggest name who lost time on the stage, with last year's Giro d'Italia winner losing 28 seconds to the front group of contenders. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) lost 21 seconds, Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) 28 seconds, with Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) and Daniel Martínez (EF Education First) continuing to concede time to their rivals after their significant losses on Stage 2.
The Tour de France continues with Stage 5 from Gap to Privas, with a slight uphill sprint to the line at the finish. The race action starts on the SBS ŠKODA Tour Tracker from 9.00pm AEST, with coverage beginning on SBS HD and SBS On Demand from 9.30pm.
