September 8, 2010 (Quebec City, QC) – Following the Quebec City ProTour press conference in morning a second press conference was held with top riders Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas, Levi Leipheimer (USA) Radioshack, Samuel Sanchez (Esp) Euskaltel-Euskadi, and Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom. A frequent topic in the Q&A was the weather as the riders had just come in from a wet ride and when asked about his first impression of Quebec, Voeckler quipped “damp”…

Ivan Basso: 32 yrs old, 2nd at TdF in 2004, winner of 2006 and 2010 Giro.
“It’s a pleasure for me to be in Canada for the second time.”
“My form at the moment is not 100%, but this is normal after riding the Giro and TdF… “The attitude of the team is very good”
Q: How will the course affect your strategy?
A: It will be more difficult, you’re always on the climb so it’s not easy to catch the break
Q: What do you think the impact of this weather might be on the race?
A: We have keep moral up and not think about the weather. At the [2010] Giro, it rained for 13 days straight.

Samuel Sanchez: 32 yrs old, 2008 Olympic Road Champ, 4th at the 2010 TdF
In Spanish Sanchez commented that these are very important races for him because after the races he’ll decide whether or not to participate at the Road World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, later this month.

Levi Leipheimer: 36 yrs old, 2008 Olympic bronze in ITT, 3rd at the 2007 TdF, US road champ in 2007
“It’s been 11 years since I’ve been here and I’ve got some good memories from the Tour de Beauce (from 1997 to 1999) and the Trans-Canada Tour which was great – too bad that it didn’t continue. We did a version of Friday’s circuit on the first stage of that race and I remember it being pretty tough.” (the Mont Royal circuit was also part of the Trans-Canada Tour)
Q: What’s the Radioshack team plan?
A: We have a very strong team all around – any of our guys can go in a breakaway or a move. We have to be confident about who that is.
“Friday in particular, is going to be a course for someone who’s got that punch.”
“It’s going to be a very technical circuit.”

Thomas Voeckler: 31 years old, French Champ in 2004 and 2010, Stage winner in 09 & 10 at TdF and wore yellow jersey in 2004
Voeckler said that his team really wants to do well here in Canada as Bbox is not a ProTour team and they want to honour their selection to compete here.
The team’s full Tour de France squad is here, except for three racers who are competing at the Vuelta (Nicolas Vogondy, Pierre Rolland, Matthieu Sprick)
He thinks that teammates Cyril Gautier have what it takes to do well here. Gautier has good legs right now – Voeckler himself was ill for a couple of weeks in August and is not quite up to speed yet.
He added that Bbox Bouygues Telecom is stretched quite thin with the team participating in three races at the moment, and at the Quebec GP races will have to take advantage of the work of other teams.
Q: Will your team have an advantage if the weather remains very bad.
A: Perhaps other teams enthusiasm might be low if the weather is bad but the Bbox team has many young, fearless and enthusiastic riders, and is especially motivated to do well here.
He added that Sebastien Turgot might have an advantage, because he prefers the rain, not because it’s more pleasant but because he rides well in those conditions.