The ONCE team rides towards a Stage Four victory.

"I was forced to do all the work myself and I was exhausted on the St Nazaire Bridge,.

"We will see what happens in Paris. But I will ask for explanations if I lose the Tour because of this."

The bespectacled rider, twice a winner in the Spanish Vuelta, also saw his hopes fade early in last year's race, losing six minutes after a crash.

But his team manager Francis Lafargue said everything had gone more or less according to plan. "We chose to pick climbers because we think this Tour will be won in the mountains," he said.

"We'll see in Paris if our choice was right. But you cannot expect riders, like Piepoli or Jimenez, to win a team time trial."

The Banesto manager said his team had been caught out by strong side winds sweeping the 3.5-kilometer St Nazaire Bridge across the Loire River.

"I must admit we should have lost two minutes. Not four," he said. "But we're used to it and it could have been worse. Nobody crashed this time."

Now 34, Zülle has just missed out several times on the Tour, with a question mark hanging over his self-belief.

"With Alex, it's all in his head. And in his eyes," said Lafargue, referring to the many falls which have hampered Zulle's career.