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Interviews
Robbie McEwen - "It was perfection..."
Robbie McEwen claimed his third stage of the 2006 Tour de France thanks to his incredible top end speed. The Australian admits, however, that his job was made so much easier thanks to the quality lead-out he received from the rider who finished in ninth place in Vitre, his Davitamon-Lotto team-mate Geert Steegmans.
“It went really smoothly in the last couple of kilometers. Geert Steegmans was really focused today. I think he was so motivated to make up for his mistake yesterday. He felt really bad about the end of stage five. He said he wanted to ride into the asphalt and just disappear, he felt that bad about it. Those were his words…
“Today he’s made up for it with the perfect lead-out.
“I told him to wait until the 400 meter to go mark and he did exactly that; he didn’t go one millimeter before 400… and when he took off he was going that fast that nobody else could follow. I felt I could just back off a little and go on the inside and it was perfection!
“I wasn’t anxious to see any daylight ahead of me until the time was exactly right. We stayed relaxed and waited for the others to shoot their bolt and our team’s tactics worked perfectly.
“I sat with Geert on the bus after yesterday’s stage – just the two of us – and we had a good chat. I told him that after one good performance, he couldn’t let it go to his head and lose concentration and think he can do anything. He started studying the book immediately for today and he did a fantastic job. The guy has got a massive engine and it’s like I’m sitting on my own personal TGV and I’ve just got to get off at my stop and that’s the finish line.
“It’s hard to tell how my form is. Sometimes I don’t feel that great out on the road but I win stages. I don’t care if I’m getting dropped out on the road so long as I win at the end.â€
Anthony Geslin – “You make the effort, then you think…â€
Each stage this year has featured a long escape by a number of hopefuls; and each has concluded with a bunch sprint. The opportunists in the sixth stage was a group of three including local hope Anthony Geslin who earned the title of Most Aggressie Rider in Vitre...
“It’s important that we are part of escapes because although it doesn’t work out that often, there’s always one time that it will succeed, so why not this one? It was important for me to try today because I was born in Alencon and I live in Mayenne. I was hoping for another scenario than the previous days but it just didn’t work out that way.
“The situation was really bizarre when we had 17 riders in the escape including Boonen and Hushovd and that’s why I attacked with both Backstedt and Brard. I’ve got no regrets. I need a bit of time to recover from this stage but you don’t have to think about this when the race is on. You make the effort first, then you think.â€
Benoit Vaugrenard - "Difficult to defend..."
By winning the first intermediate sprint of stage six Benoit Vaugrenard earned a six-second time bonus and pushed his way back into the lead of the youth classification.
“Five kilometers before the intermediate sprint, I saw that there was a chance to attack so I thought it was a good idea. It will be difficult to defend the white jersey tomorrow because I know that Marcus Fothen is better than me. He was the world time trial champion in the Espoirs in 2003. I know that it’s a course with long straights and only slight undulations. It’s a stage that suits strong riders that’s why it was important to chase time bonuses.
“In the days that follow, it’ll be even more difficult because I’m not such a good climber but my team-mate Thomas Lovkvist is well placed and perhaps he will be the next rider to lead the youth classification… all the way to Paris.â€
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Friday 7 July 2006 
