Horner's rest day up in smoke

Prior to the time trial Chris Horner said that he was going to hold back, using the chance to recover somewhat while deliberately losing more time. This, he said, would make it more likely for him to be given a bit of leeway to chase a stage win in the coming days.

However once he got rolling, the competitive instinct took over. "I went for it in the end. I always do," he told Cyclingnews with a somewhat resigned tone. "I always say I will hold back and then I get on my bike, see guys in front of me and then start going hard. Maybe I could have gone thirty seconds harder, but I don't think that would have been too smart. I did push it, though."

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