Good fortune or hard work? In a race like the Tour de France, you never lose your concentration and today Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich and Tyler Hamilton have eliminated three of their rivals for victory in Paris .

A crash is always bad luck, but you must try to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you are, then a strong team is required to help you back again.

Iban Mayo and Haimar Zubledia, who finished in the top six last year, lost almost four minutes, and along with them went the only French hope, Christophe Moreau.

In the team time trial, the Spaniard at least will lose more time to the stronger squads from US Postal and T-Mobile and indeed, Hamilton 's Phonak squad.

Should the cobbles have been in the race? I think so for as Robbie McEwen, the new leader said: "If there were no mountains in the Tour, then I could win it”!