http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2005/interviews/?id=chris_horner_dec05
Horner doesn't regret his decision to give up a second placing on the
stage. "A lot of people ask me whether I'd have done it any other way,
and I say 'No way' - I did it correct and I did 100 per cent everything
I could do to have *won* the stage, and unfortunately it didn't go that
way. I knew I had to have him lead it out. I knew if he led it out, and
didn't slow down, I was going to *win* - but I knew that if we slowed
down, played cat and mouse, we'd get pulled in. He slowed down, and it
cost us both a shot at the *win*. I personally couldn't have done
anything different - not if I'm racing for the *win*; if I had wanted a
guaranteed second place I could've done it."
Horner is philosophical about the result of stage 13, and realises it's
just part of racing. "We played cat and mouse and then they caught us,
so it was nobody's fault but our own. *I WASN'T RACING FOR SECOND*, and
evidently Chavanel wasn't either," he says. "There's absolutely no
reason, at that point, with that much work, to waste a shot at
*winning* a stage just so I could get second. You know, they don't even
put you on the podium for second - at the Tour, the podium's *one*
spot." Horner says he felt good by the third week of the Tour, although
a stomach complaint held him back while trying to ride with Cadel Evans
on stage 16. "The day that Cadel Evans went up the road and stayed off
the front to gain some time and move into the top ten - that stage was
perfect for me to *win*, but I couldn't eat that day and so going over
the first mountain I had a problem because I didn't eat. If you're
going over a 25 kilometre climb and you haven't eaten anything, by the
time you get down to the bottom and you go across the valley before the
next climb..."
It was disappointing but encouraging for Horner, as he now knew he was
capable of mixing it with the Tour's best. "I started the day with
plenty of form, because I went across to the break, and they had about
13 or 15 guys with a solid 20 or 25 seconds - I got across there and I
had plenty of form, but I just couldn't use it. That was a stage I
really thought was the best opportunity to get a *win*." The confidence
he gained from the experience is clear, and he's happy with his
performance during July in France, despite not taking a stage win. "The
Tour in general I was happy with - I had a lot of personal best time,
and basically everything went well - I also got as much TV time as
possible for my sponsors without actually *winning*."