Two-time winner of the Deutschland Tour, Jens Voigt, recently spoke with T-Online.de at the Tour de Suisse, and, as always, he had some interesting thoughts when asked about the upcoming Tour de France.
In terms of his own goals, Voigt has no personal ambitions heading into his 13th start.
"I've had enough time to let out my own steam, and I've accomplished a few things at the Tour. I don't have anything else to prove. The most beautiful thing that could happen would be to finish in Paris and for the team to have yellow."
Voigt has enjoyed a strong season thus far in 2010 including a stage win at the Volta a Catalunya, 5th overall at Paris-Nice, and most recently a 6th overall at the AMGEN Tour of California. Age does not seem to be slowing the 38-year-old down one bit.
A start for the German isn't a guarantee though. Only three riders on Saxo Bank are assured starts in the Tour de France.
"Fabian Cancellara and the two Schleck Brothers are set in the team, so there are six spots left for seven riders. I'll say that I will almost certainly be there."
Unsurprisingly, Jens was asked about his thoughts on Lance Armstrong and his possibilities at a mind-blowing eighth Tour de France victory. Voigt pulled no punches with his assessment of the Texan who looks to be going better and better each day.
"He hasn't shown his cards yet. He knows, that there's still some time before the Tour start and some more time still before the first mountain stages. But I also have to say: at this point in the season, I've seen him ride a little easier."
When looking at the list of favorites, Alberto Contador's name comes first, but Voigt wasn't too interested in fawning over the four-time Grand Tour winner. "Contador has always been fit when he's been at the Tour, and it will be the same this year as well."
Just as questions of Lance, the Schlecks, Contador, and the Tour de France are now routine, so is a question concerning his horrific crash in last year's Tour.
"I'm old school. It was a crash, no one knows how or why. It wasn't my mistake as a rider, it wasn't a problem with equipment, for that reason, I can't have any worries that I'm a bad descender. I have blanked it all out, but if you're descending at 80-90 km/h like here at the Tour de Suisse, then you can't help but think, oah, somehow I'm having deja vu, you've already done this before. I try, as far as this goes, to shut it out, as the best thing to do is forget about it."