Haselbacher disappointed

Gerolsteiner's Rene Haselbacher was disappointed after finishing third in yesterday's Tour de Suisse stage five. He was considered the strongest sprinter in the seven-man breakaway group, which was away for 126 kilometres, but wasn't able to pull it off. "I had the enormous chance for the stage win. But unfortunately it didn't work out," he said on his website www.haselbacher.com.

He described the sprint this way: "The other riders oriented themselves on me, watching exactly what I was doing. As expected there were several breakaway attempts in the last two kilometres. I had to chase them down twice. Actually I wanted to open the finishing sprint, but Michael Albasini got in before I could and immediately had an advantage of a few meters. I couldn't catch him."

"I know I've missed a big chance," he continued. "But the joy of getting third in one of the biggest races in the world will come eventually, I hope. But I'm totally satisfied with my form, which is getting better every day."

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer