Competitions

Cervelo TestTeam quotes

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Parent Category: Competitions

Category: Tour de France 2010

Published on Sunday, 04 July 2010 21:02

Written by Luca Salvatelli

Thor Hushovd (NOR): “Everyone wants to stay at the front, whether or not you’re a sprinter. The roads were very narrow, that’s why there were a lot of crashes, but I was able to avoid them and I was still third, so it was OK. It was hard, really hard. I am up there for the green jersey, so I am happy.”

Brett Lancaster (AUS): “We pushed a lot of wind today and we did a good job to keep Thor out of the wind all day. We got through the first crash, but unfortunately, Thor got off my wheel on the sprint. I kept going and I thought for a minute I might of kept it for myself. Thor is in the points, so that’s good. It’s always nervous in the first day of the Tour. It takes five or six days to sort itself out. The first week is always chaotic.”

Daniel Lloyd (GBR): “I didn’t see the crashes, but I was behind the one that caught Farrar. This is my first Tour de France, but the first stages are always nervous. Everyone’s fresh and wants to be at the front. The sprinter teams are there, the GC riders want to be up front. The riders at the Tour ride one centimeter or two closer to each other and they don’t give way like they do at other races.”

Andreas Klier (GER): “We helped the other sprinter teams to chase down the main breakaway. It was very windy and in the end there was a big crash. I was at the back and I only saw people laying on the ground. Now I will take a massage and dinner and tomorrow another day.”

Sport director Jean-Paul van Poppel (NED): “It was really unbelievable today, with the number of people on the course, cheering and waving. We don’t know how many, because they stopped counting. But there’s also a negative side, due to the crowds and the noise. We also got a few crashes today, that’s normal in a first stage of the grand tour. We did a great ride today. We had the race in our hands today. In the final 5km, the team was up there to bring Thor in good position, unfortunately there was a crash there was 2.2km to go and Thor lost a little of his position. The last lead-out was missing Jeremy (Hunt), because he was caught in the crash. Brett did a great job, with a rising uphill, Thor was a little tired to make the final sprint, but he got some points for the green jersey. It was a really good start.”