June 28/08 5:38 am - Tour of Pennsylvania : Veilleux Wins Stage 5 and Takes over GC Lead

Posted by Editoress on 06/28/08
 

Veilleux takes Lead at Tour of Pennsylvania on Stage 5

Photos by Amy Smolens

Amy Smolens continues to provide excellent pre- and post-race interviews with the Canadian riders on the Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast. Today, David Veilleux won his second consecutive stage and took the overall race lead (and Yellow Jersey). His team mate Keven Lacombe finished second on the stage, after the two broke away at the end of the stage.

Amy Smolens: One second behind Christoff Van Heerden for the lead - is this the biggest one second of your life?

David Veilleux: (laughs) Yeah, kind of, sort of. But I'm pretty confident that we can pull something off to win the stage and take the second. It's going to be hard because Van Heerden is a strong rider and we'll have to surprise him.

AS: I saw your director Jonas Carney giving you the strategy talk here just a little while ago and he asked us not to record it for TV. What does he expect to happen in today's stage and what do you expect to happen?

DV: I think this race is going be really hard because there's still six, eight guys in main contention for the GC and within a minute. So yeah, it's important that we stay up front and the wind is going to be hard, so yeah, many things can still happen.

AS: So are you thinking that it's going to split but is he also giving you a Plan B if it comes down to a field sprint?

DV: Yeah, we have a Plan A, B and C (laughs,) of course. But yeah, I think it's going to come down to, the field is going to break into smaller pieces and we'll have to see at the end what we will do.

AS: And you're in good position to take back the sprint jersey with both you and Keven Lacombe only two points behind Van Heerden, too.

DV: Yeah, sure, we keep it a little bit in mind but our main focus today is the Yellow Jersey.


Post-Race

David Veilleux

Amy Smolens: So what was that great secret plan of Jonas and how did you execute it perfectly?

David Veilleux: (laughs) It was exactly this! We wanted to start the sprint 2 1/2 k from the finish line, (Jake) Keough in front, just going and then Keven and me trying to take pull the fastest we could. I knew we could pull this off because Keven has been riding great, I've been riding strong, so it was just according to plan, everything worked really well. It was a really suicidal move but with one second (down) you have to try everything! They wouldn't let me go (the rest of the race).

AS: Talk about the final circuit - we saw you with one lap to go and a small group was out front and then the next time we saw you it was you and Keven alone out there!

DV: It was just like the last stretch we had guys in front. And so at the end of the long stretch Keough just attacked, me and Keven on his wheel and we then just went from there and just surprised everyone and went as hard as we could. The finish, we were just going for the time.

AS: During the race, when Steven Van Vooren was out there in a break and his lead went up to 1:30 (he started the day 56 seconds behind the lead) in a late break did you ever doubt that you could make this work?

DV: A little bit. We were kind of afraid if he had too much time, but if he was within 50 seconds it was good, he wasn't a threat anymore for my GC so it was good.

AS: What does it mean to you to have won two stages and now have the Yellow Jersey in this race?

DV: It's just great, it's a great feeling. I think I have to thank all my team for doing the work, I couldn't have done this without them, so it's just been great teamwork this week.

AS: Every single day you guys have been on the podium, this really a culmination of a fantastic race for Kelly Benefit Strategies, isn't it?

DV: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's good, it's just perfect.

AS: You have the Sprinter's Jersey now, too, but will you try to get it back to Keven in tomorrow's stage?

DV: Yeah, yeah, of course we'll try and have him finish with it.

AS: But he'll wear it tomorrow, since you're wearing the yellow one, right?

DV: Yeah, (laughs) but they don't have large for him, he doesn't want to ride with a medium!


Keven Lacombe Interview

Amy Smolens: Talk about the plan and the teamwork that helped David take the stage win, pick up the time he needed and take the Yellow Jersey here today.

Keven Lacombe: You knew a little bit the plan because at the beginning we tried to kind of do like a top secret thing! But yeah, our objective was just to win this race and the only way to do it was to do what we did. And everybody on the team worked on the same objective and David is leading with I think five seconds so it's really good for tomorrow.

AS: A stage win for you, two for David, and now the Yellow Jersey. How has the team come together so well?

KL: Yeah, I think it's just because we raced all the year together and Jonas, it's just the way he sets up everything. With Jonas, I know if we win the stage and I work for David then Jonas will be happy for that and after that it's going to come back and David will help me to do something (win a race.) It's just a team effort and everybody worked really well today and everyone worked for the same objective and everything worked well for us and right now David is the leader with five seconds.

AS: David also has the Sprinter's Jersey, too and since you're in second you should wear it during tomorrow's stage but David says it's too small for you.

KL: Yeah, I don't really like it because there's no large so I don't want to wear it (laughs!!)