Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) was slightly disappointed to miss out on the stage win today in...
Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) (Image credit: Sirotti)
Expect the unexpected
Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) was slightly disappointed to miss out on the stage win today in Montélimar, but received an unexpected reward when Phonak slowed down the peloton so much that he jumped from 46th to 1st in the general classification. Hedwig Kröner was there when the new maillot jaune spoke about his achievement.
Q: Did you expect this to happen; was this premeditated?
OP: No, I was surprised to be in this situation! When I got into the breakaway, I didn't think about finding myself wearing the yellow jersey in the evening! During the stage, I realized that this was a possibility, when we saw the gap get bigger and bigger. But it's definitely a surprise to me.
Q: What did you talk about with Voigt in the last kilometres; was it to leave the stage win to him?
OP: No, not at all. We did talk before within the break, and agreed that if I was certain to get the yellow jersey, I wouldn't go for the stage win - if we would have been at 30 minutes within the last 5 kilometres. But then, we only had an advantage of about 27 minutes, so I told him that I was sorry, that I wanted to go for the stage as well, as there was a risk of not winning anything for me.
