14:40 - McEwen Optimistic...
“I basically suffered all the way this year,” McEwen told LeTour.fr earlier today. “My injuries made me go much deeper into my reserves than I otherwise would have so I’ve gotten through those. I’m suffering from not sitting straight on the bike, and the pain from the wounds themselves. I had to hurt myself a lot just to get to the finish so I’ll see how I come up today and hopefully in the final I’ll have decent legs and will be able to push out a good sprint.”
14:38 - McEwen’s Commentary Continued...
“You don’t always have the ability to manage who is in the break. There’s a lumpy [hilly] start to the stage and there are plenty of attacking opportunities early and if a group of more than five or six get away, it can be more than a handful to manage. And at this end of the race, it’s hard to feel good. Some guys are super, some are absolutely on their hands and knees… it depends on who goes up the road and who is chasing.”
14:37 - McEwen: Sprint Not Certain...
“It’s one of those days that, on paper, everyone thinks is a day for the sprinters but you still have to control everything so that it all comes together,” said McEwen about the 198km stage to Bordeaux. “I remember the last time we finished in Bordeaux, [Servais] Knaven won solo and he was in an escape that went from kilometer zero.”
14:35 - McEwen: Continued...
There are still many teams that haven’t won at this Tour and they’ll surely go out on the attack. It’ll be very tactical today because the green jersey is also up for grabs between Hushovd and Petacchi and, who knows, maybe even Cavendish,” McEwen told LeTour.fr earlier today. “There’ll be two teams that will want to bring it together for a sprint to get the points: HTC and Lampre. Cevelo will NOT want it to come down to that… and there’ll be plenty of teams on the attack.”
14:34 - Comments From McEwen
“I’m still in the race so everything is possible,” Robbie McEwen responded to LeTour.fr when asked if he could win today. “The reason I’ve tried so hard to stay in the race is to get to this stage and to Sunday. First, it’s got to come to a sprint and, secondly, I’ve got to be able to manage it well. “It’s not that obvious that a stage like this will end in a sprint and at the tale end of a three week race, when we’ve just had hard mountain stages, it’s not easy to keep it all together.”
14:46 - McEwen: No Decision On His Future...
LeTour.fr’s interview with Robbie McEwen concluded with a question about his future plans... You’ve got an amazing Tour de France record but at the next three days the last of your participation in the race? “I don’t know,” said the 38-year-old. “If you asked me a week ago, I’d have said that I never want to come back. But I haven’t made any decision on my future. I’m not thinking any further than this afternoon – or the end of this race.”
14:44 - Three Riders With Contador
Three Astana team-mates have joined Contador to help pace him back to the peloton after a quick bike change.
14:43 - New Bike For Contador
The yellow jersey has recently stopped to change his bike. He had a Specialized frame with a funky paint job but now he’s back on the one he used yesterday.