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Interviews
Oscar Freire - "To win was a surprise..."
Sprints are a speciality of Oscar Freire but the Rabobank rider admitted that he hadn’t been able to match it with the likes of Robbie McEwen and Tom Boonen... until today.
“It’s always important to win a stage of the Tour de France. I think I was very good for this Tour but I never took a good position in the sprint until today. I didn’t take any risks in the last 300 meters. This time it was different: I raced and tried to start my sprint very early. There was a lot of wind but I think I had the benefit of the element of surprise. To win was a surprise for me too.
“Boonen and McEwen have a team to help them win the green jersey but I have a different arrangement. Rabobank has a team for the general classification and although the green is important it’s not the main priority because I know that it’s very difficult to win on my own.â€
Tom Boonen - "If you want it too bad... you misjudge things"
Tom Boonen understands what’s required to win a stage of the Tour de France. He’s done it four times before but this year the world champion can only recognise what went wrong with the benefit of hindsight. He remains calm about missing opportunities and knows his time will come.
“I’m very proud of the team because the job they did was impressive today. They controlled the peloton all day and were also up front for the final. I just made a mistake in the last 400 meters… I was shouting at Steven De Jongh to go but he didn’t hear me and he waited a little bit and I doubted a little before starting my sprint and I think that’s where I lost the race.
“It’s been a very tough first week with long stages and arriving late at the hotel and getting up early and the weather has been extreme; first the heat and today the wind. I think everybody is starting to feel tired.
“It’s a good day though because I’m starting to enjoy wearing the yellow jersey. I realize that you can’t win everything. If you see the control that my team-mates have, you can understand why I’m proud of them. My sprint was pretty good but if you want it too bad then sometimes you misjudge things a little.â€
Robbie McEwen - "There are a few more chances..."
After winning two of three bunch sprints Robbie McEwen was clad in the green jersey for stage five. When it ended in another frantic rush to the finish line, he was considered one of the favourites for the win. Things don’t, however, always go according to plan.
“Tactically things didn’t go as well as yesterday. Geert Steegmans mistook the sign 500 meters to go for 200 to go and he gave it everything just a little bit early today. That left me on the front with more than 300 meters to go… and into a headwind. I didn’t want to just lead out the sprint for the others and then die and run 10th so I propped, waited, got back into the wheels of others and tried to go again.
“I never really got in the right position and only ran fifth.
“Okay, I’ve kept the green but that wasn’t such a good sprint. It doesn’t work out every day just as you’d like it to. You win some, you lose some. It’s hard to win every day in the Tour de France. I’ll just keep trying. Today didn’t quite go according to plan but there are a few more chances.â€
Samuel Dumoulin - "Something was possible..."
The shortest rider in the 93rd Tour de France went on the attack 20km into the fifth stage. He spent 203km in the lead along with Bjorn Schroder before being caught by the peloton with just two kilometers to go. It was an effort that yielded him the Most Aggressive Rider prize.
“I wouldn’t say that I thought that the escape would succeed but there was a bit of hope. I had an intermediate goal and that was to see what the situation was with 40km to go. When I saw that we still have almost five minutes, I thought that just maybe something would be possible; perhaps the peloton would make a tactical mistake with their pursuit…
“Once I saw the time check that said we only had a lead of 20 seconds, I recognized that my chance of victory was gone. Still, we used all our energy we had left to make one final bid before I shook the hand of Bjorn (Schroder) and thanked him for his cooperation.
“At any rate, I had a good day and it was good to be in the lead of the stage for so long.â€
Jerome Pineau - "The polka-dot jersey has changed my life..."
Bouygues Telecom controlled the peloton when it mattered most for their rider in the polka-dot jersey. Jerome Pineau has led the climbing classification for several days and, if all goes according to plan, he’ll stay on top until the Tour reaches the Pyrenees.
“Today was very tactical and our plan worked really well. I wanted to keep the polka-dot jersey on my shoulders and I knew that with the help of my team-mates it had to work. With guys like Brochard and Rous – both of whom were team-mates of the famous Richard Virenque – I knew I was in good hands. They have a lot of experience so they know exactly what to do.
“It’s changed my life to wear the polka-dot jersey. Before no one would recognize me but now people support me, especially today before I’m from Normandie.â€
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Thursday 6 July 2006 
