Gerolsteiner boss angry as Rebellin loses time

The Gerolsteiner team was another that suffered as a result of the stage one pile-up, and while manager Hans-Michael Holczer was initially angry at the turn of events that put team leader Davide Rebellin 58 seconds back at the finish, he was ultimately philosophical.

"[Getting angry] doesn't help anything," he said. "There's nothing anyone can do. These things happen. Now we just have to try and make up the time."

Rebellin had lost only eight seconds in the opening prologue time trial, and up until the crash everything was going according to plan, Holczer said. "Now we have to try and make up time in the general and team classifications." However, he reflected, it could have been worse. "Davide ended up in a ditch with his jersey totally wrecked, but at least he wasn't injured."