Rasmussen hits the wall

Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) was on track to what looked like a stage win in yesterday's sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse, until he ran out of food on the last climb and was caught by first Simon Gerrans, then Koldo Gil and everyone else. Rasmussen, the king of the mountains in the 2005 Tour, had attacked the lead group not long into the Albulapass with 25 km to go, and quickly opened up a gap. Gerrans and Moos were the next best on the road, but dangled 20-30 seconds behind the Dane for several kilometres. That meant that the race jury prevented the Rabobank team car from following Rasmussen and giving him food.

"Scandalous," said team director Adri van Houwelingen to AD. "The jury must understand that the guy was in the break for 200 kilometres. But they only said that the difference between the riders was too small. They jury should still know that this is not healthy for a rider. The rules have to be observed, that I agree with, but you have to interpret them in the right way. That didn't happen. After the race I didn't see any of the jury, but I'll definitely say something to them tomorrow."