Schumacher recovering from cold

By Shane Stokes in Gent

Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher says he's starting to recover from a cold which he's endured during the opening stages of his Tour de France debut. "Yesterday I didn't feel so good, today a bit better," the German told Cyclingnews. "I have been sick with a cold. The prologue was not so nice for me, it was really s**t. I had very heavy legs.

"It was nervous all day because it was windy," he admitted. "In the final there was the rain and it was not so funny. The crash happened but I was not involved - I was lucky."

He took two stage wins in the Giro d'Italia last season and would like to land one at the Tour this year. He's not sure how soon that will be, though. "First off I said that the fifth stage was good for me and maybe I have a chance to win it, but now I have to see how my legs are," he said. "I hope they will be going better and better."