Intro:

Prudhomme refuses to comment on Armstrong appearance request, but Roche defends him.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) 1987 Tour de France winner Stephen Roche

"Well sometimes you must say: well, ok, it's a charity event. There will be no podium, there will be no press, no public, no riders around, it's one day ahead of the Tour de France and it's for a very good cause. I can talk, because my son is very ill and I know what one euro can buy. And if (former soccer play) Geoff Thomas earned 300,000 euros ($327,000 US dollars) ten years ago and he did it and now he is hoping to earn 1.5 million ($1,644,000 US dollars) well for me, if Lance Armstrong can help him, let it be, you know. He hasn't killed anybody. For me, he is paying, and he will pay for the rest of his life for what he did. That's the most important to note, but sometimes you must also remember all the good he did, like other people, the young kids, the older people who were very ill, Armstrong was an inspiration for them. When they were at a very dark moment of their life, they looked to Armstrong saying : if this guy can do it, I can do it. They were disappointed of course later on, but still, when they were in a very dark hole of their life, it helped them to come through it. So let's have a look at that a little bit and let the UCI out of it for a few minutes and look at the charity side of it though."