The DS of Omega Pharma - Quickstep Brian Holm says it was a sad ending for the team on today’s stage as the captain of the team Mark Cavendish crashed on the final kilometre. He is looking very optimistic on the stage of tomorrow though.

The first stage of this year’s Tour de France ended with a mass sprint. The sprint became very dramatic as the former world champion Mark Cavendish crashed into the Australian champion Simon Gerrans. Brian Holm said to CyclingQuotes that it was bad luck for the team.

“Unfortunately for us we drew the shortest straw. That was the one thing we didn’t wish for. He [Cavendish] was in a good spot, but then he ended up in a sandwich. It is so unfortunate,” Holm said to CyclingQuotes.

But he is fond of one thing though and it was to see how the team followed the tactics. It was a success for the team until the crash.

“From the roundabout we ought to drive fast. We knew we couldn’t control it 100 %. You never can in bunch sprints like these. It is a little like freestyle. You have to be flexible in the end.”

The plan of tomorrow will be to keep up with the rest of the teams. Michal Kwiatkowski will stick to the front.

“The most important thing tomorrow for us is to stick to the peloton. Michal Kwiatkowski will stick to the front, while the rest of the team will spare themselves. The form of Kwiatkowski can’t be too bad, as he won the Polish Championship with a 1 minute gap. We thought he had a virus or maybe he had trained too much. He always trains a lot so it is difficult to say,” Holm explains.

The Dane is impressed by the amazing number of spectators along the route. Especially on the hills the crowd numbers were incredible high.

“We knew there would be a lot of spectators. There were just as many in last year’s Tour of Britain. It is crazy,” Holm finishes.