A mountaintop finish would have helped the situation. I was real surprised that (many finishes) came down to a field sprint. ... Although those kinds of races are exciting, a mountaintop finish is probably needed.

For us, it's become our most important race. But it's February. The European teams could see this as purely a training race because guys are gearing up for the Tour de France.

It was a very difficult time trial, and it set the GC group (the top contenders) apart. There was not much time for other riders to fight back; it was almost impossible to get that time back.

He knows those roads like the back of his hand. Plus, he's riding really strong right now.