Rhodes wraps with Planet 8th on the stage for Team Novo Nordisk’s first top 10 of 2021

Sports director Gennady Mikhaylov:

“Today I saw the team. All the guys worked hard together to protect Charles, we did our job, and we got a result that we’ve been aiming for throughout the race. We can take away a lot of positives from today and fly home satisfied with how we rode and looking ahead to the next objectives.”

Charles Planet:

“We could feel that there was some pressure on us to get a result today, it has been a hard race, harder than we probably imagined coming in, but we still felt like we had underperformed and knew that we could and had to do better, so it’s a big relief that we managed to get our first top ten of the season.”

“All the guys pulled really hard going on to the first climbs and you could tell today that Declan was really riding strongly after a few days of racing in his legs. Sam Brand gave everything to help bring the race back together after the feedzone and we railed the descent back down to the coast.”

“I went really deep today, we all did, and I felt like I was in a good position for the sprint, so to finish it off with eighth against some fast guys is great.”

Sam Brand:

“I gave it all after the feedzone to help bring the front of the race back together and keep Charles up there. A few teams were really trying to put it in the gutter, and I don’t know if I’ve ever actually gone that deep, but to arrive at the finish and see Charles exhausted, but smiling and hear ‘top 10’ makes it all worth it. Let’s keep it rolling now.”