Feverish Voigt gave it all, in vain

By Hedwig Kröner in Digne-les-Bains

Team CSC's Jens Voigt is out of the Tour de France after he finished 39 seconds out of the time limit in stage 11 from Courchevel to Briançon. The German, who rode into the yellow jersey last Sunday, has been suffering from a bronchitis since Tuesday. His illness deteriorated, and Voigt came into the finish with 40° fever yesterday and was diagnosed with beginning pneumonia.

"When I started in today's stage, I knew it was against all odds, but I still wanted to do everything I possibly could to continue," a disappointed Voigt said. "Kim Andersen gave me a lot of motivation during the stage, but in the end it just wasn't enough," he continued, refusing the team's management to appeal the race jury's decision. His state of health would probably not have made further racing possible. Team CSC is down to seven riders in this Tour de France, after David Zabriskie, who also had the Yellow jersey earlier in the race, abandoned on Sunday.