Alessandro Petacchi – “I was only thinking of the points...”

“I’ve won two stages and I’m very happy and I want this jersey. It’s difficult to keep the green in Paris, I think, because Cavendish is very fast and it’s possible that he will win one more stage and it’s important for me to do a good sprint in Paris.
“I’m very tired after the Pyrenees and I’m a little sick. I’ve taken some antibiotic and that’s making me more tired but today I was still in the race. I started my sprint from a long way out and the headwind made it very difficult to go… but I couldn’t stop because I was thinking of the points for the green jersey. I saw Hushovd near the finish line and I knew he was still able to get points but I had to keep trying.
“Today I saw I would lose the stage to Cavendish – he is so quick – but I still wanted second place because it makes a difference for the green jersey.”