Although Fränk Schleck looked to be the race's strongest climber on stage five, the crash he suffered close to the finish has led him to declare that he will not aim for a big result in Saturday's mountain time trial.
"I will take it easy tomorrow," he said after the finish of stage seven. "I don't want to hurt myself more than I need to. I am feeling better every day but I am not at 100 percent. I need to find out how my finger is, I am not sure. But even if it is broken, I can't do anything more about it [than strapping it up]. My shoulder is also sore. But it is not going to be a problem for the Tour."
Schleck and the rest of the CSC team were certain to spend Friday evening celebrating Fabian Cancellara's stage win. He said that he was happy about the success.
"It was a very good day for the team, we deserved it. We knew after my crash that it was going to be difficult for me. It wasn't a plan as such for Fabian to go at the end, but he was super-motivated as he lives close to here. What he showed today is that he is the strongest time trialists and rouleur, whatever you want to call him... he is amazing."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
