Not Förster's day

Thursday was definitely not Robert Förster's day. To begin with, he and four Gerolsteiner team-mates almost didn't make it to the start of the first stage of the Benelux Tour. Förster, Markus Zberg, Frank Hoj and Volker Ordowski got into the hotel elevator to go down to the team bus and on to the race - but ended up going nowhere.

"The five of us were stuck in the one metre by one metre elevator cabin for 40 minutes," recalled Förster on his Web site, www.robert-foerster.de. "You could hardly breathe. It was not for anyone who is claustrophobic!"

They were finally freed by the fire department, and had to climb through an opening in the elevator cabin ceiling. "Then we all first just took a deep breath. Man, what an experience!"

Things didn't get much better in the race. Förster crashed 25 km before the finish line and thus was unable to be part of the sprint finish. "This was just one of those days..."

One thing is certain tonight, though: "Tonight I will take the stairs in the hotel!"