By Monika Prell and Susan Westemeyer
Oscar Pereiro, who is currently riding the Volta a Catalunya, said that the Tour de France victory should be awarded to "those who should have it," according to todociclismo. Pereiro is disgusted about the Floyd Landis situation that is currently being fought-out in California before an arbitral tribunal.
He will not start the Tour de France in the yellow jersey nor will be wear the back number one, Tour organizer Christian Prudhomme has said.
Speaking at a visit to the Volta a Catalunya, Prudhomme commented, "The doping case of Floyd Landis is in the hands of the court. We must let the system do its work. Really, there is no doubt. According to the positive results, Landis can't be the Tour winner." He added, "In 2007 I want a credible final winner, with no doubts about his honesty."
"This is something anecdotic," said Pereiro about the possibility of wearing the number 1. "If anybody of my team has to wear it, may it be someone else, because it is something that does not motivate me. I prefer the number 7, my favourite number."
For the moment, he wants to focus on the Volta a Catalunya and the victory his team reached in the first stage. He rates it as "the best thing" that could happen after a "bad" week he has just passed, when he was also accused of being involved in Operación Puerto.
Pereiro straightened out that his goal is not to win the Volta a Catalunya, he will use it, especially the mountains, as preparation for the Tour de France.
The Spanish sports newspaper Meta 2Mil reported that Pereiro's dog is not named 'Urko,' as has been reported in the Italian media, but instead is called 'Zor.' According to the newspaper 20 Minutos, the Spanish rider wanted to name the dog for the Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, but the veterinarian misunderstood him and registered it under the name Zor.
