By Gregor Brown in Paris
Quick.Step team manager Patrick Lefevere
"Everyone always talks about doping in our sport but I think that the traffic of the post and pre-stages makes life very difficult. I think if you drive one hour in the evening after the stage and one hour in the morning before... with highways, it is no problem, but when you arrive at 8.00 or 8:30 a few times, we arrived at 9:00 in the evening... it is not good.
"The lack of transfers is a good thing for my riders. I know the Tour's organisers cannot make the stage any less harder. Maybe the discussion of reducing the length of the Tour [less than three weeks - ed.] should be discussed in the future. When you see 10 flat stages in a row with the same finish everyday... I don't think if you go from 21 days to 18 that it would change the race."
On the possibility of Tom Boonen winning less stages: "Well, sometimes less is more. If there are less stages and you win one of them it gives you more publicity. The next days my team will be meeting, but it will not be very serious, only to be together. We will teach the foreigners how to drink beer."
Liquigas team manager Roberto Amadio
"It will be a great course; right from the start, it will be challenging. The stages are distributed well. There are the arrivals that could definitely decide the Tour."
On the lack of transfers: "This is something that is important for the riders to recover. It is always important that we are working to improve the riders' conditions."
On the removal of time bonuses: "It will not be important. For them [Filippo Pozzato and Daniele Bennati] the first thing is to win a stage. The bonuses are important for the maillot jaune, but above all the stage win is important."
On Danilo Di Luca's status with the team: "He is no longer with Liquigas for 2008 officially."
Saunier Duval team manager Joxean Matxin
"For the riders it is perfetto. When there are fewer transfers it is a better Tour de France, and becomes more comfortable for the riders, the personnel... less stressful. There have been some transfers in the past in airplanes, or the Giro d'Italia this year, it was a big show [from Sardinia to Naples - ed.].
"I hope for a mythical Tour with the Alpe d'Huez and Hautacam. These climbs mark the Tour de France. The Alpe d'Huez – the word means 'Tour de France.'"
On Iban Mayo's B sample test result for EPO: "There is news that the test results came back negative and there is news that the labs want to do another analysis, and the UCI has talked about taking the case to CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport]. We have only heard from the Spanish Federation, it communicated the two negatives from the Gent laboratories, and from the journalists.
"We have to obtain an official response from the UCI, and then we can allow him to race again. Once we know something, we can make a decision, keeping in mind that he still has a year of contract remaining with Saunier Duval."
