Roman Kreuziger – Unofficial
Were you looking forward to the rest day? Quite so, because if I count the pre-Tour stay we´ve been here for almost two weeks. You just need to take a rest off the bike and relax. We still have two weeks of racing ahead of us and I think everybody welcomed the rest day. How do you assess the last nine days? We´ve coped quite well but it is still a long way to Paris. Anything can happen during that time, anyone can suffer a crisis. Alberto had a bad day but it doesn’t necessarily mean that Froome´s victory is in the bag. One day he had his four teammates around him and the next day he was on his own. The Wednesday time trial plays into Chris´ hands but I am sure the final week in the Alps will be the crucial one. If somebody suffers a crisis then he can lose a great amount of time. You are still sitting in 5th place overall. Can there be any change in your position in the team? No way! I´m riding here in Alberto´s service and up to this point I´ve done my job quite well. I´m satisfied but I will also have to be helpful even in the last week in the Alps. I´m confident that he will show his best qualities. So the team hasn’t decided to share the captain role? Absolutely not. We´re sticking to the initial plan of supporting Alberto. I think there is no reason to change it. I´m here as his lieutenant. What kind of race progress do you expect from this week on? The time trial is going to be vital, just like the Sunday Mont Ventoux stage but it is very hard to make any predictions at the Tour. Anything can happen in an easy stage where you least expect it. The pace is kept really high every day. The Sky team will probably defend their yellow jersey until we hit the Alps and I think the other riders will be quite OK with it because they (Sky) will have to control the race during the second week. What are you ambitions for the Wednesday time trial? We will see how I feel. It is not my priority to stay in a top position in the GC. It is Alberto´s success that is the most important.
