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Interviews
Floyd Landis - "I only had one choice..."
Floyd Landis through caution to the wind and went on the attack on the first of five mountains during the final day in the Alps. No one could get near the Phonak team captain who is now poised to become the third American to win the Tour de France... but first, he must do what he believes he can achieve: win the time trial on Saturday.
“Yesterday had nothing to do with pressure. I felt bad from the beginning. Stage 16 was not a day that you wanted to feel bad; there was no point on the course that you had any time to recover. It was a disaster. It may not have looked as though I was trying but it was as hard as I could go. I’d like to say that I was just trying to make the race exciting but that was all I had.
“I didn’t spend too much time thinking during today’s stage. The plan right at the beginning was to do what we did. After that, all I could do was hope that, behind me, they were disorganized or not strong enough to catch me. I didn’t have a whole lot of information, only the time differences every now and then but it’s hard to tell what’s going on behind. When the time gaps stay the same for a long period of time, I was pretty sure that they were working as hard as they could and that I was going to be okay.
“It wouldn’t be any fun if I told you what was going to happen next. What I hope happens is obvious, I’d like to win the race. The only decisive day left is the time trial and I’m fairly confident in my time trialing ability – assuming I didn’t overdo it today, and there’s a chance of that… but we’ll have to wait and see.â€
Oscar Pereiro - "Saturday is another day..."
The overall lead is far from decided after 17 stages. Oscar Pereiro clings onto the yellow jersey by his fingernails and he expects things will change in the final time trial on Saturday. For now, however, he’s enjoying his days in yellow.
“It has been a splendid race already, the only thing missing is to win a stage. It’s been difficult but today I’m in the yellow jersey again and Saturday is another day. I’m pleased for my team because everyone worked very hard today and in the final it was possible to keep my lead. It’s only 30 seconds to Floyd and even less to Carlos Sastre but I’m pleased to spend another day with the yellow jersey."
Damiano Cunego – “All this will be useful…â€
Damiano Cunego finished fourth in a fast and furious day of racing. It was a result that put him in the lead of the youth classification, just five seconds ahead of Marcus Fothen. He’s not sure if he can maintain this advantage in the time trial on Saturday but it’s all a useful experience.
“It will be difficult to keep the white jersey all the way to Paris because Marcus Fothen is a lot faster than me in the time trial but I’ll do my best to end the Tour well. It’s really an important objective. Whatever happens, this Tour has been a good race for me. I’ll look back on it with plenty of satisfaction but it was a shame that I couldn’t win the stage to L’Alpe d’Huez. Today I was able to stay with the best riders during the entire stage. I’m still young and all this will be useful experience for the future years.â€
John Lelangue (Manager, Phonak) – “I’m confident about the advice of The Old Guys…â€
Following the advice of his father and Eddy Merckx, the Phonak squad acted on an ambitious plan to take back the lead of the Tour de France. Floyd Landis won the stage and is within striking distance of the yellow jersey with just a few days remaining.
"Last night after the stage there was a catastrophic atmosphere but we were quick to respond. After dinner there was a bit of time to reflect everyone was really motivated to do something in the stage today. My father called me and said that we had to try everything and attack on the Col des Saissies. After all, we had nothing to lose. To finish sixth or 26th… it’s the same thing, so why not?
“Then this morning, Eddy Merckx called and told me the same thing. I’m used to being confident about the advice of The Old Guys so we decided to do it.
“The basic plan was followed precisely. But I couldn’t know if there would be an escape or not but we dealt with it. Now Floyd is in a really good position and has a big chance to win this race but something else can always happen… even tomorrow.â€
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Thursday 20 July 2006 
