LES ESSARTS, France (AP) -- Jan Ullrich's team director says there is little opponents can do to stop Lance Armstrong on current form.

Armstrong crushed Ullrich by 66 seconds in Saturday's time trial, hammering the German and other opponents on the opening day of his farewell Tour.

"Armstrong is just too strong. Simple as that," T-Mobile team director Walter Godefroot said Sunday. "That's the way things go and we have to accept it. What can we do to change it?"

The T-Mobile team was seen as a major threat to Armstrong's bid to win a seventh straight Tour before retiring from cycling. With Ullrich, Kazakhstan rider Alexandre Vinokourov and last year's runner-up, Andreas Kloeden, forming a menacing trio there was cause for optimism.

But over Saturday's 11.8-mile time trial from Fromentine to Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile, Vinokourov lost 51 seconds to Armstrong -- and Kloeden finished even further behind.

"Ullrich lost 40 seconds too many," said Belgian Godefroot. "It's not an ideal situation for us, although it's not catastrophic yet."

Ullrich endured the worst luck imaginable before the start of the race. During a training run Friday, he crashed and fell through the back window of a team car after failing to spot a signal to brake. The cuts on his neck just missed his jugular vein.

The 1997 Tour champion needs to recover fast ahead of Tuesday's team time trial. Godefroot was not optimistic of beating the Discovery Channel team Tuesday, saying T-Mobile would do well to finish in "the top five."

Despite Ullrich's bad start, Godefroot is not yet thinking of promoting Vinokourov to team leader ahead of him.

"Between Ullrich and Vino, there is only 15 seconds difference," Godefroot said. "One [Ullrich] did a poor time trial, the other [Vinokourov] did a good one.

"We have to have some perspective and wait to see what happens in the mountains. The race will really begin after the first stage in the Alps."

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