Olympian Matt Goss had himself to blame for missing yet another chance of a Tour de France stage win - and he was honest enough to say so.
 
"I mistimed the sprint. I stuffed it up," the Orica-GreenEDGE star admitted after finishing third in stage six behind the two men who have dominated the first week of racing over sprinter-friendly flat terrain in northern France, Slovakian Peter Sagan and German Andre Greipel.

Goss said he stepped on the gas when he thought he had seen the board indicating there were 200m to go the finish, only to look up and see the sign still ahead of him.

He was never going to be able to sustain his charge for the extra distance but it was too late to change tack, and so he had to settle for third as Sagan blasted through for the third win of his maiden Tour, an incredible effort.

The 22 year old Liquigas powerhouse also extended his lead in the race for the sprinter's green jersey and is now 31 points ahead of Goss, with Lotto's Greipel another 21 further back.

Goss now has three podium finishes in a very consistent start to the new Australian team's historic campaign, but no cigar- actually, make that no champagne, which is a pity because the stage began at Erernay, where the best French fizz is made.

With the Tour now entering the mountains for the first time, he will have to take a back seat for a while and bide his time in the battle to wrest the green jersey off Sagan, which is going to be extremely difficult to do.
 
Publicly at least, Goss likes to look on the bright side and claimed his morale was in good shape because the results were still "pretty impressive" for a new team. It is, after all, the Tour de France, the world's most challenging bike race.
 
Another plus is that he remains physically intact, having avoided the many crashes that have been a feature of the first week. There were four in stage six alone, taking the total into double figures. And some have been very heavy.
 
The biggest yet occured 26km from the stage six finish, with three riders hurt badly enough to withdraw from the Tour and several other prominent ones - including British sprint gun Mark Cavendish - losing significant time and position.
 
Griepel went down twice during the day and was believed to have dislocated his collarbone, and yet at the urging of his team-mates managed to battle through what he described as incredible pain to still figure in the finish.
 
Having Greipel and Cavendish in the wars should have made things easier for the Tasmanian, but it didn't.
 
Goss admitted he should have followed Sagan instead of going too early himself. "That was a mistake," he said. "But when you're 270km into a bike race and its been pretty flat out, maybe your mind doesn't make the right decision every single time."
 
The constant crashes are starting to play on the nerves of the peleton, with senior riders glad the bunch sprints- where many of them have occurred- probably won't be happening for a while now.
 
GreenEDGE captain Stuart O'Grady, a veteran of 16 Tours and about to compete at his sixth Olympics, and team director Matt White both said one of the reasons was a lack of respect from younger riders.
 
"We've got a few kids who don't even know how to ride their bikes," an angry O'Grady said.
 
"They don't have any respect.
 
"I've seen cycling change over the years and a lot of young guys don't know how to handle their bikes. A bit of rain and everyone craps themselves.
 
"It is why we are trying to ride at the front and why Cadel (Evans) has his team keeping him up the front, out of harm's way."
 
White said the racing was getting more and more dangerous over the past decade for a combination of reasons.
 
There was a lot less respect from young riders than five years ago. "It's a lot more cut-throat," he said.
 
"Everyone thinks they're sprinters. Realistically five guys can win the bike race (in a bunch sprint) and yet 30 think they can.
 
"It creates a lot more stress and tension that doesn't necessarily have to be there.
 
"But that's bke racing. The first week is always crazy but it will settle down and get more relaxed."
 
For Australian fans, the spotlight switches away from Goss now and onto defending champion Cadel Evans, who has also come through the hectic first week unscathed and well placed. He is sixth overall, still trailing leader Fabian Cancellara by 17 seconds and his main rival, Briton Brad Wiggins, by 10 seconds.
 
He says he is feeling fresh and ready to assert himself.

Ron Reed for Olympics.com.au
In Metz, France