Voigt clarifies on Armstrong's Tour participation

By Hedwig Kröner in Cannes

As reported on Cyclingnews a few days ago, German Jens Voigt was quoted by a German newspaper as saying that he didn't believe Lance Armstrong would actually take the start of this year's Tour de France. Before hitting the road for yesterday's stage five, Voigt took the time to rectify what had been written about his statement. "All I wanted to say is that I would understand it if he wouldn't participate anymore," Voigt told Cyclingnews. "He's already won the Tour six times! He now has something to lose, but not to win anymore. I could understand it if he said to himself, 'Why am I still bothering with this'? As I always like to think of it, Armstrong stands alone on this Olympus of cycling, untouched, and will continue to do so pretty much forever! All I wanted to say was that I would have understood him if his decision had been different."

Voigt also explained that he even talked to his American colleague at Paris-Nice, before Armstrong decided to pull out of the race. "He told me that he wanted to ride the Tour," Voigt said. "It had been agreed with his sponsor and he felt the responsibility of about 70 jobs depending on his participation there: the whole of the team, the drivers, masseurs etc. So everything is clear."