"Tom Boonen apparently said in an interview, that the Tour is a race for masochists. He could be right, when you consider what pains the Tour is associated with," said Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann on his website. "But winning the mountain jersey makes up for it."
Everything is not going so well for him, though. On the sprinter's stage on Wednesday, the German had some problems. "My back hurts a little. That comes from my crash in the prologue."
His teammate René Haselbacher isn't riding the Tour this year, but he doesn't let that stop him from commenting on it for sport1. "The fight for the green jersey will be hard," the sprinter wrote. Robbie McEwen had good chances, "and is super motivated." Haselbacher cast some doubts on World Champion and yellow jersey wearer Tom Boonen. "The first two sprints were for nothing. I'm not entirely convinced that he is top fit. But he is a fighter, who rides for every single point in the bonus sprints."
Haselbacher also likes the chances of Erik Zabel, "although he's not the youngest anymore." But "why shouldn't he win the green jersey in Paris for the seventh time?" Still, Haselbacher was certain about the winner. "This time Thor Hushovd will win the green jersey, for the second year in a row. I'm sure of that," he said.
