Gerolsteiner's Friday the 13th

By Susan Westemeyer

27 year-old Robert Förster is currently writing a Giro diary for the website RadsportNews.com, and vividly described two crashes the team suffered on Stage 6 of the Giro, aptly dated Friday the 13th.

"That was Friday the 13th... " Förster began. "In the finale we were all doing well, my legs felt good; I had two teammates in Ziegler and Fothen, both of whom were doing well, at my side. They both ended up finishing in the top 10, that says everything.

"Three kilometres before the finish, I was pretty far forward, in 10th or 15th position. We were riding on the limit. Full speed. Then a tight curve - and everyone in front of me was either braking or already laying on the ground. One of Petacchi's team must have slipped. There I lay there, too - right next to Petacchi.

"My teammate Volker Ordowski came off worse in a crash the first time around the circuit. He looks like a crumbed cutlet. He said, that as he slid over the pavement he could small his own skin burning and thought, oh oh, that won't be good..."