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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Greg Lemond

Aired July 06, 2002 - 09:26   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.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: You know, in just a few hours, the Tour de France, the most famous cycling race in the world, gets under way in Luxembourg. Among the cyclists, Lance Armstrong, who is seeking his fourth straight victory. Well, this year's tour is the shortest ever, which may help keep the outcome of the three-week race uncertain until the final days.

Well, with Lance Armstrong's main rivals not competing this year, the question on many people's minds is, can anything stand in the way of the Texan and a fourth Tour de France title?

Joining us now by phone is a man who knows all about this premier cycling event, and he is Greg Lemond, the three-time Tour de France champ.

Nice to have you on the phone with us, Greg, good morning to you.

GREG LEMOND, TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMPION: Morning.

MEADE: So what are your feelings this morning about Lance Armstrong and the possibility that he may take a fourth one? You took three.

LEMOND: Yes, I think he's going to probably do it. I don't -- I'm not -- unless there is a surprise or an accident. There's nobody really going to compete against him. I do think there's other Americans that have a chance of being in the top five. Tyler Hamilton (ph) had a great tour of Italy, and I think Kevin Livingston (ph) still has a lot of potential. So the Americans are probably the strongest group out there right now.

MEADE: You know, does -- talk to me a little bit about whether people understand that this is a really a team effort. Obviously we hear your name, we hear Lance Armstrong's names. But how does a team get involved and protect the main person as they are trying to make their way toward the finish line? How does that work?

LEMOND: Well, the Tour de France is three weeks long, and it's a different strategy every day. And it's basically like a golf tournament, I'd say. It's a guy with the lowest strokes at the end of three weeks gets to win the race. But in order to do that, you have to make sure you don't get into accidents. You've got to make sure you save your energy for the mountain stages, and that's what your team's there for. It's very strategic. There's -- I think it's probably the most strategic sport out there in terms of tactics and that. And because there's a lot of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a lot of wind resistance. And so the teams are just to help make sure that he's protected, make sure he doesn't get too far behind if he crashes, and also to pace him up mountains to tire out his rivals.

MEADE: You know, what changes, if any, have been made to the course since you've raced there that you know of?

LEMOND: It's pretty much the same type of course every year. They just change the -- kind of the routes, and sometimes the mountain stages. What they have done in the early '80s when I started racing -- my first tour was in 1984 -- we had extremely long stages of 280 miles long, which caused a lot of fatigue, but also made the race a little more negative. But they've shortened the course (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

MEADE: You know, I hate to interrupt Greg Lemond, the one and only, but his phone has apparently been breaking up on us this morning. Greg, our apologies to you. Having some technical difficulties, because we cannot hear your phone, but very interesting information there as he talks about the Tour de France, a 21-day, three-week race that begins today.

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