Having taken the jersey of race leadership when the Rabobank team raced to a surprising win in yesterday’s time trial, Lars Boom is looking to the days ahead. Tour of Oman winner Robert Gesink could end up being a contender for the final victory and in that case, the team will throw its weight behind him. But GC contention aside, he talked about other goals in the days ahead.
One target is to pick up stage wins with Oscar Freire, who showed his strength in yesterday’s TTT. The team will hope he can fare well this week, but a more important consideration is to get ready for the first Classif of the year. “Oscar is preparing for Sanremo, he is in good shape,” said Boom. “We will be working for him in the next days and at Sanremo. We will do all we can to take him to the final for Sanremo.”
The Dutchman has a personal target in the race, namely the final time trial. The prologue of the Tour of Qatar showed what he could do; he won there, beating Fabian Cancellara into second, and wants to try to take another big result here in Italy.
“I ride them all at 100 per cent,” he said, confirming that he will aim for the race against the clock. “The last stage is really good for me, 9.3 kilometres. I want a result there, it's good for me.”
Looking further ahead, the 25 year old noted that the Tour de France this year doesn’t have a prologue. Had there been a time trial on the first day, he could have targeted that. Providing he rides the race, he’ll come up with new aims, as well as helping Gesink in the general classification.
Before then, though, he’s set himself objectives to chase in the next few weeks. “For me, the goals are now E3, Flanders and Roubaix,” he said. “After that, I will have a one-week vacation and then make a decision for the rest of the season.”
Boom is a former cyclo-cross world champion and should have no problem with the technical requirements of the Northern Classics. He was fifth in the E3 Prijs last year.