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CNN Live At Daybreak

Day Six of Tour de France

Aired July 11, 2003 - 06:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. team has bounced back in the Tour de France. Riders are heading into the mountains today.
And on the phone now is Tim Maloney, European editor of Cyclingnews.com.

All right, Tim, glad you could join us.

TIM MALONEY, EUROPEAN EDITOR, CYCLINGNEWS.COM: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: How is it looking there? So far, Lance is in second place, I understand, and his teammates are working really hard to try to make sure that there are no problems for him. They want to see him make it five straight years in a row.

MALONEY: Everything is going pretty well now for the U.S. Postal Service team at this point. After the day before yesterday's big team time trial win, the Postal Service really showed that they have the power to control the Tour de France and Lance's quest for his fifth consecutive victory. His teammate, Victor Hugo Pena, is in the yellow jersey, which is exactly where they want it. Lance can just sit back and wait for the big mountains that start on Saturday, and, of course, Sunday's huge stage to L'Alpe d'Huez, where Lance wants to not only win the stage, but take the yellow jersey.

WHITFIELD: Now, they've got two more weeks of this racing, so, really, it's not like, you know, they're at the last leg here. There's still quite a ways to go. This mountainous region, give me a sense as to how difficult and how much of a hurdle this just might be.

MALONEY: Well, the Tour de France has gone south from Paris, and is now this weekend will enter the Alps. And it's very difficult and very long, hard climbs. It takes a half-hour for the top racers to climb some of these mountains going full-out, and they're going, racing for five or six hours.

So, Lance -- you know, there is no cake walk here. He has a lot of rivals, and they're going to attack him in the mountains. And his team is going to be able to support him, but, you know, it's not a done deal yet. As Lance always says, he's going to wait until he's past the finish line in Paris to count the victory.

WHITFIELD: In fact, one of his teammates is quoted as saying, our main strategy is to help Lance or keep him out of trouble and let him do the least work possible. So, they really are, you know...

MALONEY: Oh, exactly.

WHITFIELD: ... rallying behind him. They really want to see a victory for him, don't they?

MALONEY: Indeed. And cycling is very much an individual sport, but it has -- in this level, it's a real team effort. I mean, Lance cannot just ride away from all of the other riders in the Tour de France by himself, except at very key points, and it's the team that kind of sets him up.

This morning, we talked to Floyd Landis from Afreda (ph), Pennsylvania, who is one of Lance's key teammates at the second tour, and Floyd said, hey, you know, we're not taking anything for granted. We're just focused on taking care of the boss, which is what they call Lance on the team.

WHITFIELD: Wow! It's all about Lance. All right, well, thanks very much, Tim Maloney, the European editor of Cyclingnews.com. Thanks for joining us on the telephone there. Enjoy the rest of the journey.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired July 11, 2003 - 06:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. team has bounced back in the Tour de France. Riders are heading into the mountains today.
And on the phone now is Tim Maloney, European editor of Cyclingnews.com.

All right, Tim, glad you could join us.

TIM MALONEY, EUROPEAN EDITOR, CYCLINGNEWS.COM: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: How is it looking there? So far, Lance is in second place, I understand, and his teammates are working really hard to try to make sure that there are no problems for him. They want to see him make it five straight years in a row.

MALONEY: Everything is going pretty well now for the U.S. Postal Service team at this point. After the day before yesterday's big team time trial win, the Postal Service really showed that they have the power to control the Tour de France and Lance's quest for his fifth consecutive victory. His teammate, Victor Hugo Pena, is in the yellow jersey, which is exactly where they want it. Lance can just sit back and wait for the big mountains that start on Saturday, and, of course, Sunday's huge stage to L'Alpe d'Huez, where Lance wants to not only win the stage, but take the yellow jersey.

WHITFIELD: Now, they've got two more weeks of this racing, so, really, it's not like, you know, they're at the last leg here. There's still quite a ways to go. This mountainous region, give me a sense as to how difficult and how much of a hurdle this just might be.

MALONEY: Well, the Tour de France has gone south from Paris, and is now this weekend will enter the Alps. And it's very difficult and very long, hard climbs. It takes a half-hour for the top racers to climb some of these mountains going full-out, and they're going, racing for five or six hours.

So, Lance -- you know, there is no cake walk here. He has a lot of rivals, and they're going to attack him in the mountains. And his team is going to be able to support him, but, you know, it's not a done deal yet. As Lance always says, he's going to wait until he's past the finish line in Paris to count the victory.

WHITFIELD: In fact, one of his teammates is quoted as saying, our main strategy is to help Lance or keep him out of trouble and let him do the least work possible. So, they really are, you know...

MALONEY: Oh, exactly.

WHITFIELD: ... rallying behind him. They really want to see a victory for him, don't they?

MALONEY: Indeed. And cycling is very much an individual sport, but it has -- in this level, it's a real team effort. I mean, Lance cannot just ride away from all of the other riders in the Tour de France by himself, except at very key points, and it's the team that kind of sets him up.

This morning, we talked to Floyd Landis from Afreda (ph), Pennsylvania, who is one of Lance's key teammates at the second tour, and Floyd said, hey, you know, we're not taking anything for granted. We're just focused on taking care of the boss, which is what they call Lance on the team.

WHITFIELD: Wow! It's all about Lance. All right, well, thanks very much, Tim Maloney, the European editor of Cyclingnews.com. Thanks for joining us on the telephone there. Enjoy the rest of the journey.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.