Lance Armstrong – “We did our best...!”

“I wanted to be one of the strongest in the race. I think that I am. I may not be strong enough to win but I think somebody on this team will win. I know the race and I understand what it’s all about. Yesterday we saw a critical point in the race. It’s the Tour and I know the Tour; I know how to race it and how to be in the peloton… so sometimes it pays to be old and experienced and not young and strong. We’ll see what happens from here but I’ll take it day by day.
“I don’t think it’s worth trying something in the next day or so. There are no time bonuses and, of course, it’s still going to be windy. It’s a tricky stage around Perpignan and that region so we’re going to have to be careful and pay attention. You never know what’s going to happen. But I don’t think the jersey changes hands until Andorra.
“During the race I started to think we might be able to take [the yellow jersey] and I thought, ‘That’s kinda cool. It’s a good story…’ but we did what we could. What else are you going to do? [Saxo Bank] came back a little bit at the end and rode strong. That’s cycling. It’s what happens. I think we finished the race knowing we can look at each other and say, ‘We did our best!’ They deserve to keep it.
“The most important thing is that we won the stage, and we put time into our main rivals. Before the start, I told Alberto, ‘Listen, it doesn’t matter if we win but it’s important that we take minutes out of guys like Evans and Sastre and Menchov.’ I think we were fairly successful when it came to doing that. The team time counts for individual time and I wouldn’t want to be two minutes behind right now.”