Index to all entries
It was a great day for Dave Moncoutié and for the team. It worked perfectly - mission accomplished. I said to Dave I will attack at the bottom of the climb, and they will obviously be chasing me, so as soon as I get caught, you counter attack. It's not often that when you say something that it comes off but today it did. Of course the whole team is going nuts with the first French win and on Bastille Day. I can hear the champagne corks being popped now.
Dave was pretty motivated this morning. I knew it was going to be hard day and my objective is to win a stage and any bonuses will be good for me.
Every one is asking about the green jersey since Tom had to stop. Well, obviously I feel sorry for Tom - he must be going through a lot of pain. It must be pretty hard for him. No one pulls out of the Tour de France for no reason, especially when they're wearing the green jersey.
But the Tour de France is a long three week adventure and anything can happen. You have got to go out there and be aggressive and try and make things happen and that's what we did today. Thor Hushovd is going to be hard to beat for the green. He has had a hard couple of days but he went really well today.
Still my first objective is to win a stage and then be in the green by the Champs Elysées.
July 13, 2005: You can count on Vino
By Matt White
Big day. Two huge Hors Categorie climbs plus the Telegraphe, Cat 1, 60 odd kilometres of climbing. The Telegraphe and Galibier together are really one climb. There may be a short descent in between but there is 40 km of climbing altogether. That's tough on everybody.
Stuey and I got ourselves in the right bus and we managed to conserve a bit of energy. We weren't under too much pressure as we were always well inside the time limit. It's good when you get yourself in the front bus because you know you've always got a seat reserved in the following one if required.
Vinokourov and Botero rode strongly and it must have been a pretty special effort to hold off the charging Discovery squad. You can always count on Vino to make an interesting bike race. If he's got something in the tank, he will definitely have a go.
Today will be a different story. Although there's not big climbs, it's a stage more suited to our team, and especially for Stuey. I'm sure I'll be spending a lot more time in the red zone.
