«[Rather than designating a leader before the race starts, Phonak is adopting a 'wait and see' policy.] We have a couple of guys that are very good right now, ... I think that Santos Gonzalez is good, Gutierrez is good and...Oscar [Pereiro], I don't know how motivated he is, but he looks fit. I don't think we are going to pick one person and say that we will work for them. There are other teams to control the race, just like the Tour. Discovery are here, and I think Roberto [Heras] wants to win, so I would expect that they will work. But the Vuelta is different, anyway, you have to be careful with the wind and so it is more a case that we have to stay together.»

«I haven't done any reconnaissance like the Tour, but I looked at the maps...Anyway, it is a case that if you're strong enough in the mountains, you can win the Vuelta. If not, you get dropped! There are seven mountaintop finishes, or something like that. So your strength is the most important thing. As for the time trials, I think the prologue is a bit short. But the last two are better for me.»

«We'll see how it goes, ... I've recovered okay from the Tour, we'll see how the legs are. I don't want to make any promises.»

«Lance is more relaxed. But it's a long race.»

«I didn't know what other riders' times were, so at the end I was a little bit surprised. But the guys at the front were the guys I expected to be at the front, so we'll go forward from here.»

«My technique in time trials is to start a little slower. I've made the mistake in the past of starting too hard and losing a bit at the end. So in my way of thinking it's better to save something for the end.»

«There will probably be attacks until the last day.»

«The way I can see it, there's no reason to waste extra energy chasing every single guy who wanted to attack. There was still a long way to go. But as we get closer to the finish, the more nervous I'm getting.»

«There's one day left and it doesn't look too eventful.»

«As far as I can tell everything went perfect. I don't know if this race would have been possible a few years ago. Obviously Lance brought a lot of fans to cycling, and hopefully we can keep them here.»