The big names give their thoughts following stage 18 of the Tour de France in Angoulême.

Stage winner Sandy Casar (Francaise de Jeux):

I had a disaster early on, with the fall caused by a dog. At that moment I thought it was finished. I really fell heavily, my bike was broken, my shoulder hurt. But everybody supported me, both in medical cars and the public. I was also a bit lucky as Merckx was counter-attacking and that helped me get back. After that, when we got a bit of time, I was lucky that Merckx didn't have to ride anymore, as [Kim] Kirchen's position was being threatened by Boogerd. So the rhythm dropped, and it allowed my to recover and prepare myself for the finish.

At three kilometres [from the finish], I saw an opportunity, but Boogerd brought everybody back to me. At the end, when I saw the others coming back, I thought I had blown it. But as I was in front, I had to stay there. I said to myself if you're going to lose, lose by attacking. I didn't want to wait for the others attack, as that's what happened in Marseille where I was beaten. This is the victory I have been waiting for.

Yellow jersey Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel):

I'm not a time trial specialist but I'm going to absolutely all I can to try and not lose one minute 50 seconds. The stage today went perfectly well despite the length; we rode at a rather good pace as opposed to yesterday when it was a lot harder even though the finish was manageable. It's really important to rest and have a tranquil day before tomorrow's really important time trial. Okay, I lost three seconds [to Cadel Evans] today and it's annoying but I just hope that I don't lose the yellow jersey because of three seconds. I hope my legs will respond well tomorrow so I can keep the overall lead.

Green jersey Tom Boonen (Quickstep):

I'm happy and I know why: we're getting closer to Paris! It's a battle all the way to the finish that's what I said on the first day I took the green jersey and it remains the same now. As long as you're not 48 points in the lead, you're not safe in the knowledge that victory in the points classification is assured. The best place to be right now is in the peloton. I was talking about it last night with my room-mate Steven De Jongh and it's unbelievable to be a rider in the Tour de France; you're isolated from the world. We do the race and the only people we see afterwards are from the media. I get back to the team bus to see the same 10 people and go to the hotel. And you repeat this schedule every day for three weeks. It's hard to know what's going on anywhere else. In the peloton it's okay. The riders who are still here are supposed to be riders who are clean and I believe it because all the positive cases have been sent home I don't know what's still going to happen if there's something going to happen but I hope that we can get to Paris with the riders who are now in the peloton. If they are catching more riders than previous years it's because it's being controlled well. I never ask questions when I see someone get a good result. Sometimes the media tries to make me say something but I know that others can also talk about me so I have to believe what I see.

Eurosport