14.07.2005/ Hi there,
After raising a glass to Vino's win yesterday evening, a couple of other
riders also came oiver to say hello. That's hardly surprising as there were
so many other teams sharing the hotel in Briancon with us: Ag2r,
Davitamon-Lotto, Gerolsteiner, Liberty Seguros and Liquigas. Of course, it's
easy to have a chat with the Gerolsteiner guys or with Jörg Jaksche from
Liberty.

This morning I also had a visit from some friends from home. They've been
following us around in their camper and always stayed close to our hotel. Of
course, as the treatment of my injuries is so time-consuming, I didn't have
too much time for them. At least, we managed to meet up after dinner and
after breakfast this morning.

In the three-and-a-half weeks we've been on the road now, a break from the
daily routine is always welcome. However, they headed home today.

Today's stage was as fast as expected. That's the way it always is on the
14th of July. After Matse Kessler and Beppe Guerini failed to get away, but
Schreckus managed to join the break of the day. And even if wasn't quite
enough in the end, our Tour rookie turned in a a great performance after the
last few tough stages. Respect! Tomorrow it should be a quiet day for us,
with the sprinters likely to have a go.

Hopefully, we can save enough energy to be able to launch an all-out attack
in the Pyrenees.

Later,

Jan