After a massive effort to make the break, our Olympic champion from Ecuador hit the climb to Plateau de Beille two-and-a-half minutes ahead of the GC favorites. It was always going to be hard to hold them off after 200 kilometers of flat-out racing, but Richie attacked as soon as the road pitched up and held out alone until the yellow jersey came past him. Even then, he jumped back on the wheel and held on until his legs gave out. Richie was rewarded with the prize for Most Combative for his efforts.

He and his teammates attacked from the start of the hardest day at the Tour de France so far. Stage 15 started straight up the Col de Peyresourde. Four classic Pyrenean mountains followed: the Col de Menté, Col de Portet-d’Aspet, Col d’Agnes, and the finish at the summit of the mythical Plateau de Beille. To win there on Bastille Day after 4,800 meters of climbing, Richie knew he had to get ahead of the fight for the yellow jersey.

Rui Costa marked the first major move that got away from the peloton over the top of Plateau de Beille. Rui then dropped back and did a huge turn to help Richie make it across to the front after he had attacked the peloton. Ben Healy then followed a move across to Richie’s group from the pack. The Irishman did a huge job for Richie later in the race, when the break split in the valley and he dropped back to ride in the wind for the Olympic champ so he could claw his way back to the front.

Going into the final climb, we had executed our plan exactly as we intended. Richie was in front, the strongest climber in the break, but the GC teams behind had chased harder than we had expected, and he didn’t have enough of an advantage to hold them off.

After tomorrow’s rest day, we’ll seize our chances in the Alps.

It was a good breakaway, but the peloton did not give us enough of a gap to win on the final climb. We fought with everything we had, but we knew that it was very difficult for our breakaway to be successful. When Tadej and Jonas reached us, I tried to follow them for as long as I could... but they had a different pace. Before the Tour I was sick and that made me a little worse than I expected. Even so, I managed to wear the Yellow Jersey one day. Now I'm doing another race. There are many opportunities left in the mountains, and I am very happy because I feel that my legs are getting better.

The guys raced with the same spirit they have shown since stage 1. They tried very hard. They didn't win, but obviously we're not going to give up. We’re going to keep that spirit.

Tomorrow's a rest day. And then, if the guys have the legs they had today and yesterday–and I'm talking actually about the whole group–we’re going to try to surprise some people. We’re going to race with the same spirit and try to stand on the top of the podium for one day. To get three guys in a 15-man group like we did yesterday, or with the two guys we intended in a 30-man group, which split very fast into a 15-man group was not based only on the legs of those two guys or three guys in the first case.

It's teamwork. Many gaps have to be closed. They have to be closed by their colleagues before the right move goes at the right moment. It's quite a long battle and the team has managed very well so far to always be in the right moves.