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Interviews
Robbie McEwen - "I wasn’t stopping for anybody..."
The transitional stage to Carcassonne saw a shake-up in both the general and points classifications. While the stage winner, Yaroslav Popovych moved from 23rd to 10th overall, his escape companion Oscar Freire finished third and moved into second in the race for the green jersey. The points classification leader Robbie McEwen was frustrated that he couldn’t alter this result...
“We had to chase the first move because Bennati and Hushovd were there. Bennati ruined it for the rest of the guys in the escape group. Then, when Freire went, I had just closed a gap myself and I had no team-mates left and that was it: the four were away. It wasn’t such a good thing for the points competition.
“It was a question of bad timing when the escape group formed. Freire and Landis were in the front group and I chased it down but when I got there, I couldn’t do anything more and that was the moment that Freire jumped away again. Suddenly, everybody decided that it was time to stop for a piss. I thought, ‘Well, Freire is third in the points classification. I’m not stopping for anybody.’ Some guys were critical of my tactics to keep going but you can compare it like this: if Cadel Evans goes away in a breakaway, Floyd Landis isn’t exactly going to pull over and take a piss and say, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it…’
“In the end, we couldn’t catch Freire. Fortunately for me, he was only third and I was sixth in the stage so it wasn’t a complete disaster.â€
Yaroslav Popovych - "The tactics were simple... attack!"
After 11 stages of the 2006 Tour de France the Discovery Channel team didn’t have any rider near the top of the general classification. It’s a stark contrast to what we’ve seen from Johan Bruyneel’s squads since 1999. Yaroslav Popovych lost almost seven and a half minutes in the stage to Pla-de-Beret. By leading an escape to the line in a transitional stage, however, he has pushed himself up to 10th overall. Still, the priority for the rest of the race is to chase more stage wins.
“This stage is very important for me because yesterday was a very bad stage. “All of my team missed an opportunity at Pla-de-Beret and we needed to achieve something in this race… this is a good start.
“I think most of the riders were tired after yesterday’s stage but it was important for me to use my energy to get in an escape. When Hincapie’s escape was caught, it was my time to try.
“The tactics were simple for the final kilometers... I had to attack! I’m not a really fast sprinter and it was necessary to get rid of Oscar Freire because he’s very fast in a sprint. I tried time and time again in the finale because that was the only possibility to get the win. If I arrived at the finish with Freire, I surely would have been beaten.
“A good result in the general classification is difficult for me now because I lost a lot of time in stage 11 and now I only think about stage wins.â€
Floyd Landis – “If he tries again…â€
The yellow jersey is not worried about the position of Yaroslav Popovych, not even now that the Ukrainian Discovery Channel team rider is in 10th position in the general classification, a little over four minutes behind Floyd Landis.
“This was a really difficult stage to control because the peloton was always nervous during the first two hours. We then just had to ride to maintain a reasonable gap to those in the escape group. It was an effort that demanded a lot of effort from everyone in my team.
“Sure, Popovych is now less than five minutes behind in the general classification thanks to his win today but it wasn’t so important to reel his escape group in. If he tries again, you can be sure that we won’t allow him the luxury of the advantage he achieved today.â€
Christophe Le Mevel – “I reached my limit…â€
The only Frenchman to be involved in The Escape of stage 12 did not have an answer to the attacks of his rivals in the closing kilometers. Christophe Le Mevel explains…
“Of course I’m frustrated to finish fourth from four in the finale but I’m content with my day. It was important to be part of the good escape and it was really hard to get into this move because there were so many attacks at the start of the stage. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a good collaboration with the other escapees. It would have been better if there was another Frenchman in the group with me.
“Anyway, I reached my limit. It was hard from the start. I tried my best as part of the escape group but it was a difficult day.
“It didn’t work this time but I still believe something is possible.There are a lot of stages yet to come and perhaps, one day, you’ll see me on the podium.â€
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Friday 14 July 2006 
