Tour of California quotes

Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel)

Describing his ride
“The first half of the course was a cross-head or direct headwind. It was really hard mentally because you weren’t going very fast, the speed wasn’t high, but that’s really where the time difference was made, there and on the hill. I just tried to stay one with my bike, to stay as straight as possible and keep the pressure on.”

On his motivation
“My major motivation today, besides wanting to win, obviously, was that I did not want to go to the dinner table tonight and look my teammates in the eye and tell them ‘I’m sorry but I could not defend the lead here.’ That’s what kept me going and I was able to push harder than normal. For me that time trial was personally a great achievement.”

On his level of caution
“I was taking some risks; at one point I clipped a bush with my shoulder. Looking back I was thinking, 'Wow, I was going for it.' At the time I was just so focused. On the major climb, I gave it everything and stayed in the big chainring and sprinted over the top. I was a bit cross-eyed on the downhill, but I think I pulled it off.”

On the time gaps to Voigt (Leipheimer won today's stage by 18 seconds)
“In the beginning I was very close (to the times of my teammates) and then I started to pull away. When I got to Los Olevos (half-way point), I heard the announcer say I was the best time, that’s always very motivating. Johan (Bruyneel, team director) was saying I was ahead of Jens ‘but I don’t know by how much’, and then, with 5k to go, he told me I was 5 seconds ahead. I kind of thought he might be lying to me a little bit to make me go faster, and then with 2k to go he told me I was two seconds ahead! Those were the time checks I got and it definitely pushed me but he didn’t say by how much.”

Jens Voigt (CSC)

On his defeat by Leipheimer
“Every day I give my best. Eighteen seconds just means he was just a little bit stronger than me. With two or three seconds you can say ah, maybe I should have taken the corners a little faster. But 18 seconds, I was just missing a little bit. But it’s only February, it’s early in the season there are a several races to come, so I’m looking forward to that.

On team strategy for the final two days
“It depends. Surely we’re going to have a meeting and see what actually our options are and what’s possible, what’s not. If we really want to turn the whole thing around that means you gotta basically unleash hell on everybody. It’s going to be something like flat out from the start, it depends if we feel like we’re ready for that. Maybe we just settle for another stage win.” 

Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel)

Comparing this to European racing, and overall impressions of the race
“I’ve been skiing for the past couple of weeks. My legs are just now getting used to going up and down instead of side to side. I’ve been getting better and better the past couple of days. I kind of expected to do well, but I didn’t know what would happen out there.”

On knowledge of the course
“It was really windy. We’d ridden here with our training camp, so we knew the course and knew the race was to the top of the hill, then you have time to recover. Basically it was two time trials: to the top of the hill, and then take as many risks as you can on the downhill… We usually ride that way out to Figueroa, then this morning we rode it before the race.

On the final two days
“It’s not done yet. CSC’s stacked up in the top ten. We had to use a lot of energy the other day to San Jose, so we’re kind of in a predicament. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

Petacchi won stage 3 at Algarve

Alessandro Petacchi finally won his first stage at the Volta ao Algarve. On Friday, the Milram sprinter was first of the third stage from Lagoa to Lagos, the longest stage with 208.3 kilometers. In the bunch sprint he outpaced Bernhard Eisel, who won the day before. Tomas Vaitkus from the American Team Discovery Channel finished third.

For Alessandro Petacchi it was the 123rd victory of his career, for Team Milram the third in this still young season. On the first stage Petacchi celebrated already, but later was denied the victory and set back to the fourth rank by the jury. On Thursday he had bad luck again when he lost contact to the “Milram-Train” in a roundabout when 400 meters were still to go. Now everything workd out fine as the profile of the course with two climbs 50 kilometers before the finish was predestined for escapes.

It was almost enough for the escapees. Three riders broke away early, taking advantage of the demanding terrain. Philippe Gilbert (Francaise des Jeux), Tom Stubbe (Chocolade Jacques) and the young Dutchman Thomas Berkhout (Rabobank CT) established a gap of 11:35 minutes. In Foia, a climb of the second category 50 kilometers before the finish, they were supported by Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel) who were the only ones able to catch up with the trio. But in the finale it wasn’t enough for the escapees. On the last meters they were outpaced by the pursuers. In the finale Alessandro Petacchi had the most reserves and celebrated his second victory this season. "Finally, everything was ok today," Alessandro Petacchi said contentedly. "The race was very hard today and we almost feared not to succeed in catching up with the escapees. In the sprint, Marco Velo started first and Eisel was at his wheel. 230 meters before the finish I started and won. I really felt strong today," the Italian continued. First in the overall classification is now Bernhard Eisel with a lead of three seconds.

Zabel and Petacchi togheter at Vuelta Valenciana

For the first time this season, Alessandro Petacchi and Erik Zabel will start in the same array. At the Vuelta Valenciana (UCI category 2.1) from 27 February to 3 March 2007 the sprinters will lead a team of eight riders.

Last year, Alessandro Petacchi won two stages at the Vuelta Valenciana. This time, at least two stages are specific to the sprinter again.

Milram for Vuelta Valenciana: Alessandro Petacchi, Erik Zabel, Brett Lancaster, Mirko Celestino, Christian Knees, Elia Rigotto, Enrico Poitschke, Marco Velo