Kim Andersen

This promises well for Carlos' chances in the rest of the race. We had a feeling he'd be in top read more

This promises well for Carlos' chances in the rest of the race. We had a feeling he'd be in top shape after finishing well in the Tour and later having the time to prepare himself and spend time with his family without being troubled by injuries, illness or stressful contract negotiations. But just before a race starts you always get a little nervous anyway.

We tried to keep Sastre up front ahead of the climb, where it all exploded, ... Of course, it would've read more

We tried to keep Sastre up front ahead of the climb, where it all exploded, ... Of course, it would've been more fun if we'd had a rider in the break, but I'm pretty satisfied with the fact that we had three guys in the second group with all the big favourites.

It was too bad 'cause he sat with the favorites for a really long time. But once again it shows read more

It was too bad 'cause he sat with the favorites for a really long time. But once again it shows that Jakob is finding the form like Vande Velde, who has now been given the freedom to ride his own chance, while the others are going to back up Sastre 100%.

Carlos felt really strong at the foot of the decisive climb, so we put Calvente and Piil up front to read more

Carlos felt really strong at the foot of the decisive climb, so we put Calvente and Piil up front to set the pace. With about six kilometers to go Carlos hit a bad patch and instead of risking a total meltdown, he made the sensible choice to ride at his own pace and he did actually manage to limit his time loss quite well. The other day Carlos was a bit better than Mancebo and today it was the other way round. The time differences are still very small. The way it looks right now Heras and Menchov are the strongest. But there's almost two full weeks left and a lot can happen in that time.

It was very impressive of Van Heeswijk. He bridged back to the peloton all by himself after his puncture and read more

It was very impressive of Van Heeswijk. He bridged back to the peloton all by himself after his puncture and still had strength left over for the sprint, even though the pace was high towards the end of the stage. Christian Vande Velde crashed during the final descent, but he wasn't seriously hurt and managed to finish in the main peloton, while Linus Gerdemann lost some time because he's suffering from a back ache.