The timing of Gianni Meersman’s crash on stage two was very unfortunate, with the Omega Pharma-Quickstep man hitting the deck with ten kilometres to go having just moved into the virtual lead courtesy of racking up the time bonuses. Without a team-mate for support, and with a lengthy wait for a replacement bike, he knew his chances of taking the yellow jersey appeared shattered. But what happened next certainly made for entertaining viewing.

Drafting his team car, illegally it must be noted, his frantic chase back on earned more air time than the battle at the front of the bunch where the spring trains were forming and jostling for space. Inciting the fury of the race commisaires, Meersman continued his drafting until he had passed a sizable chunk of the rapidly breaking-up field before even attempting a madison-style handsling with one of his team-mates. It was all in vain, of course. Even before the significant time penalty handed down to him, he was unable to latch back on to the leading group. And the Belgian will not be starting stage three as a result of his injuries either. You can not fault the man for trying though.