Still smilin’: Chris Horner climbs into the Tour de France’s top 10 on Tourmalet

Watch the Chris Horner interview on VeloCenter Extra on CompetitorTV

Chris Horner all but wrapped up the team prize for RadioShack, and moved himself into the top 10, with a great ride up the Tourmalet on stage 17 Thursday. Horner rode with a chase group behind Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador to finish 8^th, 1:48 back.

“I knew we had gotten rid of all the Caisse d’Epargne guys so we were going to be solid for the team classification,” Horner said, referring to the second-placed squad on the team GC. “I also thought it might move me into the top 10 on GC, too. And, I was hoping that maybe there was a shot for even the stage. If Contador and Andy weren’t riding as strong and maybe they play some cat and mouse maybe we catch them. There was a shot at getting away, but I was with a good group, but those two guys are on fantastic form, better than anyone else, so I just hung on and did what I had to do.”

The strong ride had his teammate Lance Armstrong laughing at the finish. Both men are 38.

“He’s funny, man. He’s always like, ‘Ah, my leg hurts. My back hurts.’ Everything hurts on him,” Armstrong said. “The way he limps around the hotel you would think the guy is limping right to the hospital. Then he gets in the race and he rides up the road. We like to give him grief.”

Horner said it was a hard day.

“They started off easy on us,” Horner said of Saxo Bank. “They let the break go right away. And then it was just setting some tempo. We went hard up the Col du Marie Blanque.  We went well up the Soulour, too. I was seeing good power on the SRM so I knew the legs were good. After that it was just a matter of hanging with the big boys up the Tourmalet. It was a little bit of pain and suffering near the top, but overall it was a good day.”

Horner said that while he has done a number of jobs in his career, his intentions at the Tour was simple — complete his assignment as given by director Johan Bruyneel.

“I have done a little bit of everything in my career,” he said. “I have certainly been the leader of teams and this year been the leader of the squad at some different races, but I have never had the level of support like I had on American teams.  I have been a domestique. I have been a super domestique. I have been a leader.  I have been back to those jobs back and forth and bounced around. We have a fantastic team here and I just do what is best for the team.”

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