Breschel abandons Dunkerque

Matti Breschel's 4 Jours de Dunkerque campaign lasted just 50 kilometres, with the Team CSC rider abandoning the race. Breschel pulled out of the event on the first day after knee problems hindered his efforts.

"Matti felt a sharp pain in his knee during the sprint in the final stage of Tour de Romandie and it kept hurting the days following," explained sport director Dan Frost on Team-CSC.com. "But when he was out training on Monday he was fine and not in any pain at all so he thought he was good to go today.

"But already early in the stage he fell back to the sports director car and reported that the pain had returned," added Frost. "The official doctor for the race gave him something for the pain but it didn't help so he had to abandon at the feed zone."

The Danish rider has headed home for a rest. His next race will be decided once his knee is back to normal.

"It's too bad cause Matti was in great shape, which he demonstrated during Tour de Romandie where he was op against some of the best sprinters in the world," said Frost. "But hopefully this problem will blow over quickly and he'll be back in action again."

The outfit had a tough day in France, with its highest finishing rider Kasper Klostergaard Larsen in 35th place on the opening stage. Stéphane Augé (Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone) leads the event by over two minutes after breaking away with Clément Lhotellerie (Skil-Shimano) during the stage.