Monday, March 13, 2006
Boonen's Ready to Rumble
Whether or not Tom Boonen emerges from Paris-Nice as the bigger winner over top CG man Floyd Landis will first be known in a week, with the opening of the Spring Classics season at Milan-San Remo.
Looking to get an early start on his preparation for the race, Boonen rode off the race course after 6 kms, for the short journey to San Remo where he'll be training with most of his expected lead-out train for next Saturday's Monument. If Boonen stays in Italy for the remaining time before La Primavera, it will signal a marked departure from his preparation for major races last year. After completing the 2005 Paris-Nice, he headed back to Belgium, rather than hang around the Med like spring rival Pettachi. The two also took different routes to prepare for the World's. Again boonen quit the Vuelta early to return to Belgium for training, while Ale-Jet rode through to Madrid to reconnoiter the championship course. The two split those two races, so who's to say who has the definitive better plan?
But in a lottery such as Milan-San Remo has become in recent years, and with so little to actually gauge riders on, Boonen still looks to be a prohibitive race favorite. That is, until the bunch goes charging up to Poggio, and then down the twisting descents onto the Via Roma...
Looking to get an early start on his preparation for the race, Boonen rode off the race course after 6 kms, for the short journey to San Remo where he'll be training with most of his expected lead-out train for next Saturday's Monument. If Boonen stays in Italy for the remaining time before La Primavera, it will signal a marked departure from his preparation for major races last year. After completing the 2005 Paris-Nice, he headed back to Belgium, rather than hang around the Med like spring rival Pettachi. The two also took different routes to prepare for the World's. Again boonen quit the Vuelta early to return to Belgium for training, while Ale-Jet rode through to Madrid to reconnoiter the championship course. The two split those two races, so who's to say who has the definitive better plan?
But in a lottery such as Milan-San Remo has become in recent years, and with so little to actually gauge riders on, Boonen still looks to be a prohibitive race favorite. That is, until the bunch goes charging up to Poggio, and then down the twisting descents onto the Via Roma...
