Steinhauser: "That can't be true"

Tobias Steinhauser couldn't believe it when he had to drop out of the T-Mobile train 20 km before the end of the team time trial Tuesday. "That just can't be true," he said. Looking back, he said, "Actually, I feel fit, there's nothing wrong. I just couldn't do it."

Team manager Olaf Ludwig said that the team's plan was for Steinhauser to go with full power for the first part of the race and keep the speed up for as long as he could. He did that for 48 km, but "then I had to pay the price." Was he asked to drop out, so that he wouldn't slow the others down? "There was nothing left to decide," according to Steinhauser. "I was totally flat."

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer