Stage 14 reactions

Erik Breukink (Rabobank manager): "The captain cannot perform without a strong team behind him, and the efforts by Thomas Dekker, Michael Boogerd, and Denis Menchov are to no avail if the captain is unable to finish it. This was a dream scenario come true. Before the race you think about what could happen and then you are hoping that Rasmussen will have someone by his side for as long as possible. He started the concluding climb with three men with him and they held on for a long time too. It almost could not have been better. It was perfect.

"We have increased the lead on Evans and Klöden, and that is today's gain. We quickly found out on Plateau-de-Beille that Klöden and Evans were not in superb shape. That is why Boogerd gave a little extra while in the lead and Menchov also gave a major tug. That paid off. But Monday will be completely different. A stage with five climbs spread out over the entire day. That will be very hard to control."

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