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A conversation with Andréas Klöden: At the limit
Andréas Klöden saw third place in the 2006 Tour de France slip away from him during Thursday's 200.5km stage from St. Jean de Maurienne to Morzine as American Floyd Landis (Phonak) staged an astounding comeback from his collapse of the day before, winning the last Alpine stage and bumping Klöden down into fourth with just three stages remaining. Sebastian Moll caught up with the German T-Mobile rider for a quick chat; here's the transcript.
VeloNews: How are you feeling at the end of three weeks of the Tour de France?
Andréas Klöden: I'm pretty much at my limit, like everyone else. I mean, you could see so many guys struggling to stay in the time limit in the gruppetto today. We're all very tired. I think we all rode one or two mountains too many last week.
VN: What do you say to Floyd Landis's performance today?
AK: He was unbelievable. He rode faster up there by himself than all of us together back there.
VN: You didn't seem to have your best day today.
AK: I had my best day in L’Alpe d'Huez. In La Toussuire I didn't feel that fresh anymore. And today I was struggling to survive.
VN: Do you think you can still make it onto the podium?
AK: Maybe, if [Oscar] Pereiro has his worst day on Saturday [during the final time trial] and I have my best day.
VN: Do you think Floyd is going to win the Tour?
AK: After today, and with the momentum he picked up with his victory, I would be surprised if he doesn't win.
VN: Considering your preparation was disrupted by your shoulder injury, are you happy with your Tour?
AK: If you would have told me two weeks ago that I would end up in fourth place I would have been more than happy. But having been so close and having smelled victory, of course I'm a little disappointed. But you have to be realistic. I mean, the other guys riding are all great cyclists too and they work very hard.
VN: Do you think you can win next year if your preparation is not disrupted?
AK: I think if I can train all spring and do my races and don't get sick or crash that I am definitely on the same level as Carlos Sastre, for example. So yeah, I think I can win.
VN: Do you think you will ride for T-Mobile next year?
AK: We have got a great group of guys here. I mean, we started into the Tour with seven men and I think we put on a great show and everyone rode their hearts out. I think Floyd would love to have our team. So I'd love to continue to work with those guys. But I have offers from a number of teams. And I am very surprised that T-Mobile has not extended an offer to me yet. But I won't worry about it until after the Tour.
VN: Do you feel like the legitimate captain of T-Mobile now?
AK: Quite frankly, all the talk about who is the captain means nothing to me. I mean, in soccer the striker has to score, no matter if he wears the captain's armband or not. To me it's the same in cycling.
