15:22 - Lelangue Comments On Today’s Stage
The Phonak team has been at the head of the peloton since the 100km mark. The bunch is four minutes behind Freire, Le Mevel, Ballan and Popovych. France Television recently interviewed the director of the Phonak squad, John Lelangue to get his thoughts on the stage. “This morning I took the overall ranking and drew a line at the riders who are nine minutes behind Landis to know exactly who we could allow to escape," said Lelangue. "Popovych is exactly on this line so we will control the pace of the peloton to ensure that he doesn’t get a big advantage.
"Later we’ll see what the sprint teams decided to do and perhaps we’ll help them catch the escape group.”
15:40 - Beucherie Comments On Le Mevel…
The director of the Credit Agricole team recently spoke with LeTour.fr to discuss his squad’s intentions today. Serge Beucherie said, “It’s certain that Phonak doesn’t want to allow Popovych improve his position in the general classification. And Davitamon-Lotto doesn’t want Freire to add to his tally in the points rankings but I continue to support Le Mevel. I want him to give everything he has in the escape group.
“First of all, he has worked hard and he deserves to have a chance if this escape succeeds. Secondly, you never know what can happen with the chase group. At the same time, the fact that he is in the escape means that we are not obliged to help with the pursuit. Should it all come back together, however, Thor will be ready to contest the sprint. “In summary, it’s a great situation for us.”
No mention of Bastille Day...