Eisel satisfied but looking to Sunday's sprint

Many riders might be unsatisfied with a 60th place finish in the Tour prologue, but not Francaise des Jeux's Bernhard Eisel. "It didn't' go bad, I'm very satisfied with the result," he said. "Maybe I could have ridden five seconds faster, but that doesn't really mean anything." It could have been worse for the Austrian, as he narrowly avoided a crash. "I was totally concentrated and had my head down. I oriented myself on the barricade. Then suddenly the barricade had a bend in it, and I went around it on the straight street. Fortunately I was able to quickly correct myself."

Eisel is not a time-trial specialist, but a sprinter, and therefore looking forward to Sunday's stage. "I want to be in the sprint in the finale. But I won't know how good my form really is until then," he said.

His fellow countryman Peter Wrolich of Gerolsteiner was happier with an even lower place, as he finished 169th. "I am absolutely not a prologue specialist, so today I didn't try all that hard," he said. "The Tour begins tomorrow for me. And I'm more than happy that it is finally under way. Now we can finally ride again."

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer