Lorenzo Lapage: "It's a pity, today's stage suited us..."

Orica-GreenEdge's assistant sport director spoke to letour.com after the Australian team lost one more rider, Michael Albasini, who will not start today due to a fracture in his upper left arm. Simon Gerrans and Daryl Impey already abandoned in stage 3 with broken bones. Michael Matthews is still racing but in he's pain. “When you lose 30% of your line up and one of your best riders is badly injured, you can't expect to play a role in the Tour de France”, the Belgian said. “Michael is going as well as anyone could with two broken ribs. Not everyone handles the pain the same way. It's a pity because today's stage suited Simon and Michael very much. Now we'll have to reach the first rest day, hoping for better luck in the second half of the Tour. The team time trial was one of our goals. Now with six riders, it'll be a rest day before the rest day. It was always our plan to ride the second part of the Tour for Adam and Simon Yates even though we don't want to put pressure on such young riders. Simon showed his talent by finishing eighth at Mur de Huy after crashing. Our remaining riders will be motivated at 200% to avenge those who aren't here anymore.”