Lars Boom came out top on stage three of the Tour of Britain by taking the day’s win and grabbing the overall lead from Mark Cavendish. The HTC-Highroad sprinter only managed fifth into Stoke on Trent, but Boom made it clear that he felt it was not a normal sprint stage. “Beating Cavendish is nice, but certainly [yesterday was] not really very notable. It was a really difficult stage, with a super hard final. Cavendish had already lost his team-mates and had to do it all alone."
Boom has held the lead in a number of stage races this season but has yet to convert it into an overall win. Amongst the races the former cyclo-cross world champion has led are the Tour of Qatar, Tirreno – Adriatico and the Critérium du Dauphiné. However he says that at this time, the course suits him perfectly.
"I really believe in my chances for the overall. I'm certainly going to defend the jersey. The course here suits me. The last day we have a time trial of 8.8 km and a criterium in London,” he stated, knowing that both should be well suited to his capabilities.
The 25 year old Dutchman has shown good form ahead of the World Championships with yesterday’s finish in the Tour of Britain similar to the one in Copenhagen. However he said it’s difficult to make a prediction on one based on the other.
"Yes, that is true [that they are similar], but we rode 140 kilometres. Copenhagen will be 270 kilometres. It is certainly good for my confidence, though. Currently I feel very well,..the form is good, but also need the opportunity. That was certainly the case [yesterday]. It ran quite smoothly for me. The whole sprint went like it actually should do. Sprinting is not so easy, but if the pieces in the puzzle fit together, I can win a sprint.”
Today’s fourth stage of the British race will see the peloton heading to Wales. Rabobank will give full support to defend Boom’s jersey on the 183km journey.