Friday, June 01, 2007

Iban comment on Giro win


After majestically claiming the 19th stage of the Giro earlier today, Iban spoke to Saunier Duval`s homepage. This is what our happy hero had to say: " I´m on top of the world after this win. Even before today`s stage, I was content with what I´d done in this Giro. I said before the start that I hoped to catch up as the stages unfolded. And this was exactly how things turned out. I rode to help the team because I knew Simoni´s overall victory was at stake, but today I felt it was my last chance, especially when I saw it was cold and raining, since this kind of weather suits me. I was part of breakaways right from the start, and in the cat-1 ascent we put the leader to the test. Piepoli set a high pace, but Di Luca showed he was very, very strong, so we chose to focus on the stage win in stead. When I broke away with Losada, I thought they´d reel us in. I noticed signs of fatigue in him, so I went solo. I didn´t really believe I would win this thing until I was about to cross the line, as I had a lot of first-rate riders just behind, and the gap was rather small. However, I really enjoyed the finishing straight, because beautiful moments like these don´t tend to come in twos. I remembered all I´d been through, especially over the past months, and I thought of the people who had always stood by me: my family, the team, my fans, who followed me in the Dolomites for four days. I can´t tell whether this has been the most important triumph in my career, since last year I scored in the Dauphiné Liberé after many unsuccessful years, but no doubt was it a special victory, because this is my first season with Saunier Duval and my first ever time in Italy´s Grand Tour. So imagine how I´m feeling after all this ego-boosting!”

 

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