Steels on that winning feeling

Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto) was interviewed by Karl Vannieuwkerke on VRT's Tour show after Stage 2, and talked about Tom Boonen's victory in Les Essarts. "Tom would feel really happy now," said Steels. "To win that first mass sprint in the Tour is something special. I know the feeling of winning a stage in the Tour de France and it's something exceptional. The tension is building throughout the whole stage. Even with still 20km to go the pushing and shoving starts. There are no friendly gestures, everyone wants to sit in the best possible position."

"Boonen won this sprint already way before he crossed the line. There was no beating him today. He had all the time in the world to raise his hands in victory.

"I think that this sort of sprinting is the hardest discipline in racing, technically. The emotions are so close together too; happiness and disappointment. In our team the level of frustration will be considerable, although the guys should be satisfied as they did their job as was expected. They should sleep easily. For McEwen it might be different; maybe Robbie started his sprint a bit too early, but he is no rookie, he knows what to do and how to deal with it. This is a three week battle, and tomorrow the fight goes on."