An interview with Floyd Landis, July 19, 2006
"First of all, I want you to believe me when I say I have respect for you guys, because this is the last thing I want to do," began Landis. "Anyway, what are the questions... I think I can take a guess," he said with wry smile.
Q: What happened?
FL: I had a bad day on the wrong day. The team did a good job in the beginning; I suffered from the beginning but I tried to hide it... In the end, I couldn't go.
Q: Why do you think it happened?
FL: Er, sometimes you don't feel well. Sometimes it's on the wrong day - today was not a good day to have a bad day... What can I say...
Q: What are you thinking about now?
FL: Stage 18, 19... whatever it is (half-laughs, referring to the time trial)
Q: It was heartbreaking to watch you on that final climb - was there a point where you gave up?
FL: Umm... no. I was struggling before that, I tried to hide it, but once I was dropped, that was that. I felt very, very bad; I didn't expect to stay close to the leaders. I did what I could; I didn't give up, I kept fighting, but I didn't have much left, so... you saw what happened.
Q: You said you had difficulties - did you bomb, did you not eat enough, because you were so strong on the other mountain stages? It was definitely not normal for you?
FL: Yeah, I don't think it was a problem with not eating enough; like I said, I wasn't good from the beginning. There was never a flat part where I could recover for 15 minutes, but that's how it goes.
Q: I'm sure this is a day you'd like to forget; how difficult is it to come out and even talk about it?
FL: (Smiles) Well ignoring it doesn't change anything...
Q: Have you thought about tomorrow at all?
FL: Yeah. It's another hard day; things change. You saw Pereiro was 30 minutes down, now he's in the lead again. I don't expect to win the Tour at this point; it's not easy to get back eight minutes. But I'll keep fighting - it's not over yet.
Q: How does it make you feel seeing Oscar in the yellow jersey again, after giving him 30 minutes?
FL: I'm happy for him, he's a friend of mine. And that's the way the Tour went. I said several times it doesn't matter what the others do - I'm focused on what I do - but seeing Oscar in the jersey certainly doesn't disappoint me; he's a good person and it's a good team.
Q: What do you do to deal with this at this point?
FL: Er... I don't know... drink some beers! (laughs) That's what I'm thinking about now!
I never assumed the Tour was won at any point; I said many times that anytime you can have a bad day, and I was trying to race conservatively every day I did feel good.
Q: If we were trying to turn this round on a positive note, can you come to terms with what you've achieved?
FL: I'm happy with the way it's gone; I'm proud of my team for standing behind me the whole time and risking everything on me - that's not easy to do. On the other hand, yeah, I'm disappointed - I'd be lying if I said 'Just forget about it'.
Q: Today had absolutely nothing to do with your hip - it wasn't bothering you?
FL: No, it was not a factor.
Q: Were you acting yesterday?
FL: No, I felt very good yesterday. If you think back to the Tours in the past, I've seen it happen several times with different people. Until now, I've felt well.
Q: Have you any regrets at the opportunities you had, you didn't make more of?
FL: No, I think I did everything I could do to win this Tour. I'd change this day if I could, but I don't know what I would of done differently, so I can't say I regret anything I did.
Q: Did you feel a lot of pressure to win this Tour?
FL: Um... no. It was goal of mine to win, we said we wanted to win; the pressure from outside didn't affect me - I don't think it had anything to do with today.
Q: You think what happened to you today, the situation could be very different for you tomorrow?
FL: Yeah, it could change for a lot of reasons and for a lot of different people. My chance to win the Tour is very small at this point, but I'm gonna fight, because you never know what's going to happen next.
Q: What about the others?
FL: Looks to me like Klöden has a very good chance; Sastre was also strong today, but it will hard for him to get time tomorrow, because it's not as difficult a stage as it was today. Pereiro was also good today... it will come down to the time trial, I think.
Q: Floyd, will this change the way you race in the future - your goals, the way you races?
FL: No. Bicycling racing is a big part of my life, but it doesn't change anything. I regret what happened today, but I don't regret anything I did, because I don't think I could've changed it.
