As reported today in cyclingnews.com:
Sergeant tired of it
Davitamon-Lotto directeur sportif Marc Sergeant is getting tired of the other teams' tactics in the first week, which put all the pressure on his team and Quick.Step to chase the breaks. He also commented on the dangerous finale of yesterday's stage, which caused a mass pileup in the peloton. "I had scouted the last kilometres in details.I knew this was something that could happen: pedestrian crossing, bends and rain. It was a deadly mix. Unfortunately, they went down.
"Robbie was where he had to be but it led to nothing. I think the boys did a lot of effort getting that break back from eight minutes, but it will be the last time we did this. I'm really tired of it. Those teams are always sending men ahead. They have a sprinter there but they never get to the sprint. I mean if you bring a sprinter to the tour you have to ride for him too. We have a good understanding with QuickStep, but I point at Hushovd and Crédit Agricole. They're always quick to jump with things and then in the end they draw the card Hushovd. Without the rain and the crash it would have been a sprint between Robbie, Boonen, and Hushovd."
As a suggestion to get the other teams do do some work, why don't Lotto and QuickStep each send someone in off the front? If the other teams didn't pull back the break away, they would take the stage...if they did, Lotto and QuickStep would still have the sprint.
Any experienced race tactitions have a comment?