Rabobank's Dauphiné prologue

Team Rabobank "failed to play a prominent role in the prologue to the Dauphiné Libéré," as the team's website, rabobank.nl, delicately put it. But team leader Erik Breukink wasn't too upset with the prologue results, since most of the riders are aiming more for the upcoming mountain stages. "The boys cycling here will definitely get a chance in the coming days."

One who might have been expected to do well in the 4.2-kilometre race was Marc De Maar but he "began suffering from both stomach and intestinal complaints on Saturday evening and they persisted on Sunday." De Maar finished about 35 seconds down, 140th out of 149 riders. "That was, despite being ill, still nine seconds better than (last-place finisher) Leonardo Piepoli who was one the Giro's defining cyclists," the website added optimistically.

Breukink cast his eye on another rider, 21 year-old Robert Gesink, who won a stage in last week's Tour of Belgium, leading to his "discovery" by the Dutch media. "Robert is a plain person and handles that very well. I did notice that he allowed last week's attention to distract him a little bit but he is still young and I am sure that he will do better next time. I am looking forward to seeing how he will perform here. The competition here is obviously better than it is in Belgium. But he is also looking forward to it and that is a good thing."