By Jean-François Quénet in Saint-Etienne, France
After being one of the heroes of last year's Tour de France, aided by his stage win in Loriant, Sylvain Calzati has had a quieter season in 2007 having suffered a few setbacks. He's again in contention for Ag2r's Tour team and is currently contesting the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré where he seems to be on the right track to secure his place.
Calzati was the first man to attack on Stage 2 in the very difficult col de la Gachet, which commenced with 11 kilometres of difficult climbing. "I hoped some people would come with me," he explained. "When I noticed that the gap wasn't going beyond two minutes, I realized it wasn't worth continuing."
Calzati confirmed there was no team plan for Christophe Moreau's stage-winning breakaway. As the stage was held on Cyril Dessel's home soil, he also tried to break away after Calzati. "I'm happy to see that my legs are turning well again," Calzati added. "I was thinking of trying another stage for the win, but now we'll work for Christophe to keep the yellow jersey 'till the end."
As he was designated with back number 13, Calzati put his race number on upside down as he's afraid of the bad luck that comes with it.
