Reactions from the prologue
Rain in Rotterdam makes for an interesting day
Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) - 23rd on stage, 23rd overall @ 39 seconds: "All the corners where you wanted it to be dry, it was wet, so I took it pretty conservatively. That might have cost me a couple seconds. Nine or 10 seconds behind the GC guys isn't where I really wanted to be but it's still the early days."
Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam) - 70th on stage, 70th overall @ 54 seconds: "For me it was nice to start the Tour de France after these hard four weeks with the back problems that I had. I could not do intensive training like I normally do so I didn't know how I would be today.
I am happy because I did not have pain in my back. That's the most important thing. There are 20 days of racing ahead of us, so anything can happen."
Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) - 75th on stage, 75th overall @ 56 seconds: "The Tour is now underway. It was a great prologue for sprinters; if the road hadn't been wet you wouldn't [need to] touch the brake. Some corners I took carefully, always trying to measure the risk but take enough risk.
"I am satisfied with the time I recorded, I'm practically on the same time as Sastre, Menchov, Wiggins and Frank Schleck, people who have much to say in this Tour de France. The race has only just begun and we expect some very difficult days. Tomorrow it's the same; the journey is very complicated, so we have to go day by day."
Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) - 157th on stage, 157th overall @ 1:19: "I didn't want to take too many risks. The most important thing is to be ready tomorrow for the stage and try to take the green jersey. There are no time bonuses anymore, so it's hard for the sprinters to try to take the yellow jersey with time bonuses."
Alberto Contador (Team Astana) - sixth on stage, sixth overall @ 27 seconds: "I'm happy with the result. I'm ahead of virtually all the favourites and I missed the podium by a few seconds. It's true that I failed to find the rhythm that I would have liked, but I'm happy with the prologue. It was very difficult [to gain more time] because I couldn't risk more than is worthwhile. It's better to lose a few seconds to risk a fall."
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Jeremy Hunt (Cervélo TestTeam) 139th on stage, 139th overall @ 1:13: "It was special today to be on the start ramp. I am a classics rider, so I have never been to the Tour de France before. It's never too late. The Tour is one of those races that you dream about your whole life. When you're a boy, you dream of racing the Tour, Paris-Roubaix. I am excited to be here at the Tour.
"They told me to take it easy in the prologue, to not risk crashing. We have a great team here at the Tour. We will help Thor to try to win the green jersey and help Carlos win the yellow jersey. My goal is to make it to Paris and hopefully see one of our guys on the podium."
Ignatus Konovalovas (Cervélo TestTeam) - 33rd on stage, 33rd overall @ 44 seconds: "I couldn't suffer today like I wanted to. I couldn't go full-gas when I needed to. With the rain and the corners, it was more difficult. Yesterday, when we saw the course, we thought, 'OK, great time trial course.' But when we raced it in the wet conditions, it was much more difficult. Also, with the big crowds, you couldn't see the corners.
"Now I will focus on helping the team. I was hoping for a top-20, but this is the Tour de France. The best riders are here. I am happy to be at the Tour. My goal is to help the team the best I can."
Andreas Klier (Cervélo TestTeam) - 146th on stage, 146th overall @ 1:15: "The stage on Sunday will be challenging. We know we can expect wind, narrow roads and maybe some rain. The part of the course that goes near to the sea is early in the stage, but we will want to be careful to keep our leaders out of harm's way. We can expect it to be a bunch sprint, but we must be prudent and avoid crashes or splits in the peloton."
