Thursday's moment came when the US Postal team of defending champion Lance Armstrong decided to wait for crash victim Roberto Heras in the team time-trial.

Heras, who was fifth overall in last year's race while riding for another team, touched wheels with Christian Van der Velde and the two of them slithered along the wet road.

The order to wait came from team director Johan Bruyneel, a decision which clearly cost Armstrong time.

Was it the right choice to make?

Genuine contender

Well, Heras won the Tour of Spain last year, so can be considered a genuine contender for this year's race, albeit an outsider.

So, to that extent it was an insurance move in case Armstrong falters.

Yet we understand that Heras is riding with an injured knee and he certainly was not taking much, if any, of the load up front.

Armstrong lost ground to pretenders to his crown such as Joseba Beloki of Once and Christophe Moreau of Festina, yet still gained 24 seconds on his perceived great rival Jan Ullrich.

Time will tell whether those few lost seconds have any bearing on the outcome of this race.