I suffered but I tried to sprint to Pau

It was a very difficult day for me and I suffered a lot not just because of the injuries I have from my crash but also from the heat. Once again, my teammates did an excellent work, they protected me during the stage and helped me position myself for the final sprint. I really wanted to try and go for the win but my legs were still hurting. I need to rest and recover more because tomorrow we have another very hard day in the mountains. (Photos Luca Bettini)

Bol to veľmi náročný deň. Trpel som, nielen kvôli zraneniam po mojom včerajšom páde, ale tiež aj kvôli veľkej horúčave. Chalani v tíme odviedli opäť výbornú prácu a snažili sa mi pomáhať. Chránili ma počas celej etapy a tiež ma v záverečnom špurte dostali na výbornú pozíciu. Naozaj som chcel zabojovať o víťazstvo, ale nohy ma stále boleli. Potrebujem oddych a čas na zotavenie, pretože zajtra máme ďalší veľmi ťažký deň v kopcoch.

Tour de France 2018 – 105th Edition – 18th stage Trie sur Baise – Pau 172 km – 26/07/2018 – Peter Sagan (SVK – Bora – Hansgrohe) – photo Luca Bettini/BettiniPhoto©2018
Tour de France 2018 – 105th Edition – 18th stage Trie sur Baise – Pau 172 km – 26/07/2018 – Marcus Burghardt (GER – Bora – Hansgrohe) – Peter Sagan (SVK – Bora – Hansgrohe) – photo Vincent Kalut/PN/BettiniPhoto©2018
Tour de France 2018 – 105th Edition – 18th stage Trie sur Baise – Pau 172 km – 26/07/2018 – Peter Sagan (SVK – Bora – Hansgrohe) – photo Kei Tsuji/BettiniPhoto©2018