Team CSC in today's team time trial. Tyler Hamilton is riding with a fractured collarbone. The team lost 1:45 to Armstrong. Where's Piil? Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirotti.
CSC finished in 10th place today - 1:45 after US Postal who won the stage. This makes it even more difficult for Hamilton and Carlos Sastre to challenge Lance Armstrong for the overall win.
Tyler Hamilton was asked if he expected to be on the bike again tomorrow and answered “I hope so.”
CSC rider Michael Blaudzun told Danish television that Hamilton was able to ride at 70% of max today. Had he been at 100%, according to Blaudzun, Team CSC would have gained a place in top 3.
Team manager and former Tour winner Bjarne Riis appeared rather disappointed at the finish, but said that he was satisfied with the performance of the team. According to Nicki Sørensen the team was hoping for a top five finish today.
Dane Jacob Piil again today finished minutes behind his teammates. Piil, who suffered from illness before the Tour, was expected to do well on the flat stages of the Tour, but the question now is weather it would have been a better choice for the team to bring sprinter Julian Dean to the Tour instead of Piil. Dean has performed very well, and recently won a major race in the US and gained a number of top three finishes in European races. With Dean as part of the Tour team, the team would have had an extra power machine for the team time trial - and a tough guy to go for stage wins in the first week of the Tour.
