Nevertheless, it did upset the calculations a little bit because Rabobank sports director Erik Dekker had initially placed his bets on a pack sprint. Dekker had a remarkable explanation: "After a pretty tough stage, Dekker could have had a decent shot at the victory with this uphill arrival. He perhaps could have earned some additional seconds, but it was not meant to be and then this is the most ideal situation for us. All extra seconds had been taken and there were no dangerous men in the front. Now it going to have to happen on Saturday."

One can be brief about how the stage unfolded. The eleven men, who maintained their leading position until the finish, had broken away quickly. After that, one had to patiently await to see which of the teams was going to initiate a hunt down. "All important teams were represented. We were not, but we did not have to. Hence, we had to wait for something to happen in the peloton. I did not feel like sacrificing my small six men team. But, there were still some teams who went to work, but they never reduced the gap to less than two minutes."

Four riders attacked out of the breakaway group: "During a climb 50 kilometers before the finish four riders managed to escape the group and Luke [Roberts] didn't quite have the strength to follow. They chased the four after the climb, but never got closer than one minute and Luke ended up in sixth place. Rabobank controlled the peloton and when none of the riders in the break were at the top of the general classification, they were allowed to go all the way with a three and a half minute lead," explained CSC sports director Scott Sunderland.

The riders will have to cover 24 kilometers in Saturday's individual time trial. The track is not very technical and the first part goes uphill. Erik Dekker: "Thomas can handle that. I think such a time trial suits him a little bit better than Jens. We will have to see. I am definitely full of confidence." according to the team leader.