Leblanc: They were wrong

Eurosport.com: Was this the best Tour of the last ten years?

Jean-Marie Leblanc: "I think of the last ten years, yes. It's sure that we can't throw out the Tour de France years of Lance Armstrong in a cloud of smoke, you'll remember that the 2003 Tour de France, the 100th anniversary Tour, with a magnificent match between Armstrong and Ullrich was incredibly, incredibly disputed. It was a very beautiful race. But globally, my last big Tour de France, from the point of view of intensity, of changes in lead, of incertitude and suspense were not the Tours of Miguel Indurain, nor the Tour's of Lance Armstrong, except 2003. The last great ones were the Tour of Greg LeMond in 1989, everyone talks about that one, and the Tour of Stephen Roche in 1987 in the match with Jean François Bernard and [Pedro] Delgado, which was a very beautiful Tour.

Eurosport: How does Landis' victory compare to previous years?

LeBlanc: We see that in general there is an alternation between dominant grand champions, who win three, four Tours, seven in the case of Armstrong, and between them there are pauses. There is a vacancy in power of sorts, and then you have a winner like this, a winner like that, and nobody dominates the others completely. That was the case of Bjarne Riis. I think that this Tour falls into the category of one without a patron, without a dominant team, and where the rider, who is naturally the best, but also the most audacious one, the one with the most panache takes victory, and Floyd Landis rode like that this year.

Eurosport: Can Landis win the Tour again?

Leblanc: Yes, because in the current context there is no more Armstrong, there won't be anymore Ullrich. There will still be Klöden , Basso I don't have a clue, there will be Valverde there will be some good riders naturally, but Landis will have learned something.... psychologically he can ride with a knowledge of the Tour de France, with a victory in the Tour de France. I imagine with a team that is a little bit more reinforced, he could, I'm not saying he will, but he could win another Tour de France.

Eurosport: What about your planned meeting with Lance Armstrong on Saturday. Did it happen, and if so, how did it go?

Leblanc: It happened, it went well, and it went well because, contrary to what journalists say there was no polemic. There was an impossibility for communication and explanation since the revelations of the affair of 1999. We all explained ourselves well, and we all agreed that, until proof of the contrary, Lance Armstrong has not lost any respect for the Tour de France. He accords tons of respect for the Tour de France. I'm not going to tell you what we said, we spoke, we expressed a mutual respect, and we hope that continues, and that's it.

Eurosport: Does it diminish from Landis' victory at all that the top five riders from last year's race, Armstrong, Basso, Mancebo, Ullrich, and Vinokourov, did not race?

Leblanc: No, because we know the reason why they were not there, except for Armstrong of course, and those raisons were good reasons. There is no looking back, on the contrary, we always say in life that those who are missing are wrong. And for those who were absent from the Tour de France there was reason for them to be absent, and so they were wrong.

Eurosport: What is the next step in the fight against doping?

Leblanc: There is no next step. There is continuing of vigilance of action on the part of sports federations, of public powers, laws, police, etc. The pressure cannot be dropped. We don't have many means, we don't make the laws, we don't take sanctions, but we put in place our moral force in the fight against doping.

Eurosport: What is the next step between the Tour de France and the UCI Pro Tour after no agreement could be reached in your negotiations over team licensing.

Leblanc: I don't know at all. I deplore that there was no accord, that everyone, particularly the UCI, was frozen in their position. It's sad for cycling, but you have to see that it doesn't prevent the great events from living without the Pro Tour. I hope that one day those responsible at the UCI will understand, will be convinced that we can't do a Pro Tour without the Tour de France, and without others big events that answer to the media, the public, the partnered sponsors. We can't live separately.

Eurosport: What is your greatest memory from the Tour de France?

Leblanc: The 2003 Tour de France. The 100th anniversary Tour, because it was good on the sporting level, and there was lots of participation of all the French public, the cities, the spectators, etc. for all the celebrations that were done surrounding the Tour. That's the most beautiful Tour.