montanakids/Creative Commons

When the Tour de France begins tomorrow, America's top hope, and the Team Discovery leader, will be a Montana native at the peak of his career named Levi Leipheimer. In addition to being just a really exceptionally good cyclist, Levi is passionate about helping animals, and he recently took some time to talk to PETA about the role that animal protection plays in his life. He also shot an ad for us, which we'll be releasing in a few weeks' time, so I will definitely let you know as soon as that bad boy finds its way onto our site and into the magazines. In the meantime, you should check out Levi's interview below. Dude is a winner, and you can be certain that I'll be pulling for him tomorrow when he hits the streets in London. (Yes, the Tour de France begins in London this year. I'm sure they had their reasons.)

When did you decide to pursue cycling professionally?

I started riding when I was 13, and I basically knew then that it was what I wanted to do. I race for seven months of the year and train for 10. During the off-season, I usually ride my mountain bike for fun. In an average training week, I ride between two and seven hours a day.

We heard that you enjoy eating vegetarian food. Is there one vegetarian dish that you would recommend for athletes in training?

Every day when I head out on my bike, I'm fueled by an energy-packed vegetarian breakfast of oatmeal, apples, blueberries, strawberries, and nuts. I've done this for years. My favorite post-ride meal is pasta with lots of garlic and sunflower seeds or pine nuts.

You are a top professional athlete, but you still find time to do animal rescue work. Can you tell us about some of the things that you do to help animals in your free time?

[My wife and I have] had a revolving door of foster animals in California and in Spain. I help out by playing with the animals who need to be socialized and by transporting them when needed. We've had about 100 fosters over the years.

There have also been many occasions when I've gotten a call from my wife, Odessa, after she has found an animal on the side of the road while riding her bike. I've done a lot of these emergency pickups for squirrels, frogs, birds, cats, dogs, turtles—you name it.

How did you become involved with helping animals? Did you have any animal companions growing up?

Growing up, we had dogs and cats and a lot of squirrels and chipmunks in the yard, but it wasn't until I met Odessa that I learned true compassion for animals. She will drop everything in her life if she suddenly encounters an animal in need, no matter what. She's risked her own safety to help animals on many occasions. Once you see that in person and witness the difference you can make in the life of another creature, you'll never turn and look away from an animal in need.

We heard that when you travel to Europe for the cycling season, you take your dogs with you. What is that like, and is it difficult to fly them from California to Spain?

Traveling with animals has been a learning experience. Because our dogs are so small, we're able to take all three of them in the cabin with us. We wouldn't do it otherwise. The airlines have very strict rules concerning pets in the cabin, so you have to be very careful.

You have been kind enough to agree to work with PETA on a new spay-neuter campaign. What message would you like to get out to folks about how they can help reduce companion animal overpopulation?

In the Unites States, there really isn't any excuse for not spaying and neutering your pets. There are low-cost spay-neuter options in almost every city and town. All you have to do is look.

You have a lot of fans out there, which gives you a powerful platform to reach people and make a difference. What is your message to them about having compassion and getting active to help animals?

The world belongs to animals, too—it's not just ours for the taking. Be kind to animals. And spay and neuter your pets.