Crédit Agricole was quite happy to make the top ten, but they did it without having sprinter Thor Hushovd with them. Hushovd came off on the first climb, and rode in four minutes down. "My legs weren't good enough for that speed," the Norwegian explained. "I'm just missing the rhythm of the competition after one month without racing. I finished the time trial with Christophe Kern but I'm not worried. It's only a restart. I'll see how far I can go in the Giro and my hopes of winning a stage are intact."
Despite Hushovd's chances of gaining the pink jersey being dashed, the team was happy with the overall result. "The guys rode well, especially the climbers," team manager Roger Legeay said. "Patrice Halgand stayed in the front almost all the time in the climbs."
