Today Roman has enjoyed the first rest day at the Tour. His burnt calf from the Sunday’s stage is not hurting so bad any more, so he was able to take an easy ride with his team for two and a quarter hours. "We did sixty kilometers and climbed 1100 altitude meters," Roman said.
What else did you do today?
After lunch I gave an interview to journalists then I relaxed in my room. The rest day comes in handy because we can recharge our energy for the following stages. The tomorrow’s stage is going to be very difficult and some crucial moments can happen.
What is the spirit like in the team Liquigas?
Everyone is absolutely relaxed and satisfied with the yesterday’s stage. From our point of view, it worked out well for us.
Are you going to stick to the tactics of two leaders?
I hope it will stay that way until the finish in Paris. My rivalry with Basso is a huge bit of gossip, especially for the Czech media, but in fact there is no rivalry between us whatsoever. We are friends who do not hesitate to help each other out and I think we both can build on that in the race. Not many riders arrived at the finish in the first group with two riders from one team. It can be our advantage.
Who of the favorites seems the strongest to you so far?
Yesterday Andy Schleck showed that he is in excellent shape. Just like Contador, Evans or Sánchez. It is relatively equal so far but tomorrow’s stage can reveal more.
Is top ten still your objective?
So far, it is my goal. There are still almost two weeks of racing ahead of us and anything can happen. Someone may not stay in such form for three weeks but there are not many riders in the front positions who will get dropped, maybe Hesjedal. On the other hand, Van den Broeck finished sixteenth last year and he is in better shape this year so we have to count him in. He has performed well in the mountains so far. Also, I think Basso will move up in the general classification.
How are you feeling after the crash?
My calf was hurting on Sunday night, the skin is burnt. They put on a special net bandage for faster skin recovery but it shouldn’t limit me in the race at all.
Tue July 13, 2010, 18:50 New highs of visits brings the Roman's website to the first place in the Czech blogs counter statistics Toplist.cz. Charts can be viewed here Link;
19th July 8478x visits
