The stage finish in Frascati would have been a good opportunity for Rabobank's Pedro Horrillo to surprise the sprinters, had the Spaniard had his full capacities a♊t his disposal. However, Horrillo was one of the 80 other riders who crashed the day before, and he was suffering from the wreck.

"My back reaꦿlly hurts," he said in Frascati. "One vertebra is twisted. I was fortunate that the bunch went piano piano for a long time today. I hope it'll get better." His compatriot Joan Horrach from Caisse d'Epargne, who was a stage winner in the Tour of Italy last year, couldn't start s🔯tage five due to the consequences of his crash.