Uh, Eisel? What are you doing? (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
By Susan Westemeyer
Bernhard Eisel raised his fist in celebration when he won the sprint finish in the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, thinking he had won the stage. Unfortunately for the T-Mobile rider, a four-man escape group had already crossed the finish line.
"When my colleagues see that photo in the papers tomorrow, they will laugh at me," the Austrian rider said in good-humour. He explained to sport1.at how he came to make the mistake. "On the last climb, about 12 kilometres before the finish, we overtook an escape group of four riders. Unfortunately it wasn't the four leaders, Arekeev, Contrini, Krauss and Baliani, but four who had been following them. I took my radio out of my ear so that I could concentrate on the sprint."
"I'm not too disappointed at missing the stage win," he said. "I can tell that my form is getting better every day and that I have a lot of power in my legs." Eisel is currently tenth overall, 1'07" down.
Meanwhile, he is doing much better than his countryman, Rene Haselbacher of Team Astana, who is suffering from stomach problems and spending more time in the bathroom than in his bed at night. "I had to struggle to make it through the stage today," he said. "I simply feel empty."
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