Matthias Russ of Gerolsteiner has not given up hope on getting the pink jersey. He narrowly lost out on stage 6, where a time bonus and a last ditch effort gave the pink to Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) – with both riders tied on overall time. Visconti was awarded pink due to the results of the team time trial. The following day, Russ lost more time, but now is looking forward to the time trial. He has to make up 34 seconds on the Italian – 35 seconds, really, if he doesn't want to lose out on the tie breaker rule again.
The young German told sid that "I see my chance, I want the overall lead." The time trial goes over 39.4 kilometres on a challenging course.
