An interview with Jens Voigt

A training ride in yellow?

In Stage 9 yesterday, Jens Voigt (CSC) took the treasured maillot jaune away from Lance Armstrong and the Discovery Channel team, after two days of relentless attacking in the Vosges mountains. Voigt finished third in the stage behind Michael Rasmussen and Christophe Moreau, but had more than enough time in hand at the finish to take the overall lead. As Hedwig Kröner reports, he doesn't expect to have it for long, but he is more than happy to wear it.

Picture German Jens Voigt, a tall, lean and focused adult, grinning like a school boy: that's the image the enthusiastic crowd in front of the podium in Mulhouse took home from their Tour de France experience. The 33 year-old offered himself the maillot jaune on what was, according to him, the last day this would have been possible at this year's Tour. Voigt was very happy about this achievement, for which the otherwise relentless character had to hold his horses and actually show some patience.

"I'm very happy that I succeeded, because some people were starting to question me - and now I've shown that the old wolf still has teeth...," he said after the stage. "This morning in the team bus Bjarne allowed me to attack, and I was really pleased with that decision because I had asked him every morning: ' Can I go?' and Bjarne said: 'No.', and then again: 'Can I go?' - Bjarne: 'No.', and again... That went on for a week. And today finally, he set me free to do what I wanted to do and that worked out perfect!"