The Day Before THE DAY

(AFP/Pascal Guyot)

Some random thoughts and interesting quotes the day before THE DAY that could (but probably won't) determine this Tour de France:

Here's why I don't believe Stage 15 will determine the winner:
Says Floyd Landis: ""I have to stay focused on the big picture, rather than think of living the moment. That wouldn't be wise."

Why not, Floyd?
"My objective is to get to (Saturday's) time trial without losing too much time. I'm very confident in my time-trialing ability."

Floyd believes it's still too early to worry about the yellow jersey. Obviously, this past weekend was too early to worry, which is why Landis and Phonak (uh, Phonak is involved, isn't it?) allowed Oscar Pereiro to take the yellow jersey during Saturday's 12th stage by 1 minute, 29 seconds.

Who concerns Floyd most?
Going into the stage, these are the relative positions of the principal rivals for the yellow jersey:

• Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 64:06:33
• Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, at 1:01
• Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon, at 1:17
• Carlos Sastre (Sp), Team CSC, at 1:52
• Andreas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, at 2:29
• Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, at 3:22
• Levi Leipheimer (USA), Gerolsteiner, at 5:37

"[Denis] Menchov is the guy I have to follow the most," says Landis. I would not ignore Pereiro in the mountains, however. The time trial, however, is a different animal.

So, what about team strength during Tuesday's daunting climbs that conclude with Alpe d'Huez?
Says Floyd about team strength: "I am confident in my team's ability to fight. We don't have a team to ride at the front all day, but neither does anyone else. We have to take advantage of the situation. If there were teams with nine guys at the front in the mountains, I would be more worried."

Adds Davitamon team manager Hendrik Redant, whose horse in the race is Evans, says it's every man for himself.

"There's going to be four or five guys who fight for it man to man. I don't think the teams are going to involved."