Can the Americans repeat their time-trial dominance from last month’s Dauphiné Libéré – when they swept the top four places – in Saturday’s 52km stage that will kick-start the battle for the overall victory in the 93rd Tour de France?

At the Dauphiné, Dave Zabriskie won by an impressive 53 seconds ahead of Floyd Landis on a mostly flat, but windy 43km course. Third at 1:16 was Levi Leipheimer and fourth was George Hincapie at 1:34.

The seven-rider American contingent will roll down the start ramp with excellent chances of victory. Also looking for strong rides will be Bobby Julich and Christian Vande Velde (both CSC) and Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto).

With 37 riders within one minute of race leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic), scores of riders will wake up Saturday morning believing in their chances for the stage win or the yellow jersey.

Photo: Graham Watson

Here’s a roundup of what some of the top Americans had to say Friday ahead of Saturday’s big test:

George Hincapie (Discovery Channel)
5th overall at 25 seconds
“This is going to be very different than the prologue. This is pretty much the first long time trial that I’ve gone for myself in the Tour. If I could win, it would be awesome. We’ll see. I think Levi, Floyd, Zabriskie, all the Americans, for sure, Cadel Evans, Michael Rogers, they’ll be competitive guys…. This is a different field, it’s possible. I haven’t ridden the course, I’ll ride it tomorrow. I’ve been riding my TT bike a ton to get ready for the time trials, so hopefully I will be ready. I’d love to get back into the yellow. I am going to try as hard as I can to get back into yellow.”

Floyd Landis (Phonak)
8th overall at 36 seconds
“Tomorrow we’ll know more. I feel well. Have to wait and see who else is good in the mountains and the time trial and make a plan based on that…. We were just being cautious [changing his wheel jus before starting the prologue). Lost eight seconds. It probably would have been all right, but it’s better to be safe, I’d rather not crash. Probably better if I’d started on time, but we do what we have to do.…

“I haven’t actually seen [the stage 7 course]. It was a bit of an ordeal [to get to it]. I’ll go see it tomorrow morning. It’s just as well. From what I hear, it’s not too technical. Some long straight roads, and on the turns it’s better to be careful…. I don’t think it’s necessary [to preview it]. I’ve done the same in time trials that I’ve seen and time trials I haven’t seen. To me it’s the same.”

David Zabriskie (Team CSC)
17th overall at 43 seconds
“[My expectations’ are pretty good. I’m not gonna say I’ll win but it’s a possibility for me…. The longer the better. I don’t feel that I slow down when it’s longer.”

Commenting on Zabriskie, CSC team manager Bjarne Riis said: “He’s been okay, so far, so good. He hasn’t been wasting too much energy. He only lost a few seconds on the Cauberg, but up to now, it’s okay… I think Landis, Hincapie and Zabriskie [will be top three]. Bobby J – I don’t know, we have to wait and see later on in the mountains.”

Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner)
25th overall at 48 seconds
“I haven’t seen the TT course, I’ll probably see it in the morning. I am not worried about that. At the Dauphine I didn’t see the course and it didn’t matter…. We’ll just see about the race tomorrow. It will depend more on the riders than the route….

“You know, I think realistically I’m not really expecting to win, but to limit my losses to some of the better time trialists like Landis or Rogers. That’s basically my goal.

“The first week was okay. It was pretty tough, really, not really very flat and then there was the heat. I am safe, and so far, so good.”

American rider Chris Horner (Davitamon-Lotto) knows all of his compatriots very well. Here are some his views about Saturday’s time trial: “You’re gonna see who’s really riding good and who’s not. Floyd is looking all right, Levi’s looking pretty good, [Andreas] Klöden from T-Mobile — on paper he’s the best guy here. He’s the only guy that’s been able to those speeds of Jan Ullrich, Basso and Lance…. The only problem with Klöden is you need all the stars in alignment and … when he has the form he’s faster than anybody in the Tour de France right now.”
(John Wilcockson and Jason Sumner contributed to this report.)