Tignes (France) (AFP)

Colombian Egan Bernal, new leader of the Tour de France, "did not believe in the yellow jersey" before he was put back on the podium at the end of a chaotic 19th stage Friday, he Explain.

Q: Can you tell your end of the stage and the interruption of the race?

A: "At first, I did not understand anything, I was focused on the descent, I was going very fast, I did not pay much attention to what was said on the radio even though I heard a lot of discussions. I was told + Stop! + I did not want to stop, I asked that the situation be explained to me in Spanish, I then understood that the race was stopped and it is at I did not know that I was in yellow but in the car but I did not believe before arriving here and that I get the jersey I could not imagine getting there at 22, these are things we dream about but we can not believe possible. "

Q: Why did you decide to take the risk of attacking Iseran?

A: "Attacking, it was a decision on my part." Running on the defensive, the most likely would have been that I keep my place on the podium, but I would surely have completed the stage by asking myself what it would have happened if I had attacked, I was fighting for the final victory, but I was risking my podium (if I was cracking) I thought, I'm 22 years old, I do not want to have regret, there will be plenty of other Tours de France behind + So I attacked and I think I made the right decision. "

Q: What does it inspire you to be the youngest winner of the Tour de France?

A: "I hope to win the Tour de France, but in truth I do not know if I will win it, so what I'm going to do is continue to enjoy the moment, the bike, the race." loves cycling, competition, the uncertainty that prevails before each event, the feeling of suffering in the mountains, the feeling of adrenaline, I do not want to think too much about the future, the races I'm going to aim for and try to win, I want to enjoy cycling and what I like to do. "

Q: Will it still attack Saturday, or just defend your yellow jersey?

A: "I'm going to defend my jersey, we're in a very good position, there's only one step left, the team is good at controlling, but you never know, anyway, when you're the leader with only one step before either, logic tells me that we must defend rather than attack.

Q: Did you expect an attack from your teammate Geraint Thomas in Iseran?

A: "I knew he wanted to attack, we had talked about it yesterday (Thursday) and again today (Friday), I knew he was feeling very good, I was told that if I felt good he We had to follow him because it would be better for both of us.Our objective was to attack (Julian) Alaphilippe and not to loose the pace.If we slowed down, we allowed him to come back and we could lose everything. "

Q: Do you expect him (Thomas) to attack on Saturday?

A: "If he wants to attack, I will respect his decision, we are free to do what we want, but I think at the moment it would be madness, I think the team will have to be careful, an attack on his part would not make much sense. "

Interviewed at a press conference

© 2019 AFP