Originally Posted by Hitchy
Bull...the prologue is only 7km long...how much time could Tom lose? (or anyone else for that matter!). All Boonen needs to do to be in yellow is not get 'smashed' in the prologue, then set about winning most of the next 6 stages (if he can knock over Robbie)...theres no serious hills until stage 10...,but the ITT in stage 7 won't favour him, but if Tom is in any sort of form at all, I'd be surprised if he doesn't wear yellow in the 1st week
This is spot on.
With time bonuses for stage wins, Boonen has a realistic shot to leap-frog his way up to the yellow jersey in the first week and has stated his desire to do so. He's also stated that he is not a GC contender, but his goal is the green jersey.
Hope there are some great finishes between Tom, Robbie, Thor, Zabel, et. al. Just wake me up with 15km to go as the peloton catches the early breakaway in each of the first week's stages....