Roman Kreuziger - Team Liquigas

The time loss is not so bad

Tue July 6, 2010, 19:27

Roman took the nineteenth position in the third stage of the Tour, 1:46 minutes behind the winner Hushovd. He is now sitting in the 16th position overall.

"It was important not to go down and not to lose too much. From the big favorites only Andy Schleck with Evans managed to stay at the front," Roman said. Roman was held back by Frank Schleck’s crash with 26 kilometers to go. "We lost there about 15 seconds and the riders at the front were hard to chase on such surface. I gave it everything and caught the Contador’s group but then another two riders went down and I was unable to bridge the gap. Despite this, I am quite happy and after all, the mountains will bring the decision," he admitted. 
"It was to my advantage to pre-ride the tough section of the today’s stage. I was familiar with the bends and I knew what I could expect. Eventually, it has worked out well for me and Basso. I hope the peloton will calm down a bit and there will be fewer crashes," Roman added. 
Results of the 3rd stage(213 km): 1th Hushovd (Nor/Cervelo) 4:49:38, 2nd Thomas (GBr/Sky), 3th Evans (Aus/BMC), 4th Hesjedal (Can/Garmin), 5th A. Schleck (Lux/Saxo Bank), 6th Cancellara (Swi/Saxo Bank), ... 13th Contador (Spa/Astana) + 1:13, 19th Roman Kreuziger (CZE/Liquigas) +1:46, 32nd Armstrong (USA/RadioShack) +2:08, 43rd Basso (Ita./Liquigas) +2:25.  
Overall: 1st Cancellara 14:54:00, 2nd Thomas +23, 3rd Evans +39, 4th Hesjedal +46, 5th Chavanel (Fra/Quick Step) +1:01, 6th A. Schleck +1:09, 7th Hushovd +1:19, 8th Vinokurov (Kaz/Astana) +1:31, 9th Contador +1:40, ... 16th Roman Kreuziger +2:24, 18th Armstrong +2:30, 49th Basso +3:20.

This article is also translated :
Ztráta není nijak strašná