Whole world in his hands

Eurosport: What's it like having clinched the yellow jersey?

Floyd Landis: "I wished and hoped that one day I would have the opportunity to be the leader of a team and to win the Yellow Jersey, but I know it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrificing from a lot of people and some luck on top of that, so I feel lucky."

Eurosport: How did you feel after Stage 16 when you cracked and lost ten minutes in the Alps?

Landis: "All I felt when I finished that stage was humiliation and depression, that was not part of my plan. So it was most probably more difficult to watch than it was for me to race because I had to get to the finish line and that was all that was going through my head. It took a few hours after the race until I felt better and got my spirit back to keep fighting but that was one of the most humiliating things that has ever happened to me."

Eurosport: This makes for eight American victories in a row....

Landis: "The streak is mostly thanks to Lance as he won 7 in a row, so whether I am part of the streak I don't know. There is a lot of people in the race who want to win as much as me, and as I said, I feel lucky because the race is three weeks long and a lot of things can happen and a lot of people have put as much hard work into it as I have and on the right days we had the right luck. But overall I don't think there is any characteristic in Americans that is any different from the other riders in the race.

Eurosport: Could you look back on your US Postal years riding with Lance Armstrong?

Landis: "I feel fortunate to have been there and racing the Tour with the objective of winning and believing that you can win. I wasn't there for the first four Tours so maybe it was smoother when I was there than at the beginning, but it was an experience than not many people have a chance to see a team working together and spending 100% of the time and energy believing that it is a possibility to win. It is a mistake that a lot of teams make, only one rider gets to win and it is a risk spending everything on one person, but it is the best way and I certainly experienced that from US Postal."