2005 Tour de France, bad to the Boonen

Tom Boonen sounds more American than Belgian but as to the type of rider, he is a true red, yellow and black- to the marrow, the colors of the Belgian flag.

Although I personally don't like the way Boonen does his sprints (like an eel wiggling in the mud), there's no denying that in the absence of the Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, Boonen is the baddest sprinter in the tough and tumble world of mass sprints in the Tour today.

Boonen started his pro career with US POSTAL 4 years ago when he was 22 years old. He was supposed to be the understudy and domestique of US POSTAL's designated classics (one day races) leader, George Hincapie. Instead, he came in third in the most grueling one day race of all, Paris-Roubaix, while Hincapie crashed and finished outside the podium.

At the end of 2002, in a testament to his potential, he received an offer from QUICK STEP to ride with the retiring Johan Museeuw, the greatest one day rider of his generation. It was like being offered not only to play side by side with Michael Jordan but also to be tutored by MJ himself! So he bought out his contract with US POSTAL, with a little animosity, and settled with the Belgian team.

From 2003 to 2004 when Museeuw retired, Boonen was at the service of "the man". He won little but learned a lot. His biggest win in that 2 year span was the final stage of the 2004 Tour de France. For others, the win was a career in itself but for Boonen, it was the start of an amazing run.

Boonen started 2005 as the absolute leader in QUICK STEP's spring classics, and he didn't disappoint. He won the two monuments of the spring classics, the TOUR OF FLANDERS and PARIS-ROUBAIX. In Flanders, he held off a chasing pack in the last few kilometers to win by a few seconds. One week later, he out-sprinted and out-smarted former US POSTAL teammate Hincapie in the sprint for the Hell of the North.

And that's when the popularity of Boonen exploded. At 6'2", good looking and with an easy personality, he was a hit. He is Belgium's Beckham and more. In fact, he had 40 interview schedules just before the start of the Tour.

After 4 stages in this year's tour, he has two wins. If not for Lance, Boonen could have been the biggest story of this year's tour at this point. With number one rival Robbie McEwen badly outclassed in the last two sprints, and the way Boonen handled the opposition, I expect Boonen to wear the green sprinter's jersey in Paris.

I won't be surprised if in the next ten years we could see Boonen eclipse his tutor, Museeuw. In fact, the whole of Belgium is expecting that to happen.

Belgium has been waiting years for the next Eddy Merckx to appear in the peloton. Sirs, it's not gonna happen. But Tom Boonen is not a bad replacement, not at all.

BREAKAWAY? The next few days course is designed for the sprinters but with 80 riders more than 5 minutes behind Lance, a breakaway might be allowed to go. But don't bet that Boonen's QUICK STEP and McEwen's LOTTO squad will just sit up and let it go. There are also speculations that Lance will hold on the yellow jersey until Paris but I think Lance is too smart to do that. He won't needlessly tire his team unless it's necessary. He knows what his mission is- to wear the "maillot jaune" in Paris. Not before.