Der Effe said:
Boom got a flat tire just before the Paterberg I think it was. Still he managed to get back in the front group and then yeah, he got dropped. Don't forget he was being ill for more than a week and there were some serious doubts whether he would even race the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Paris-Roubaix should be his race so yeah, some optimism/chauvinism (what a horrible world) makes me think he's going to do well.
I really wouldn't count on it. As a matter of fact I know quite some Dutchies are getting fed up with the eternal 'classic' talent, Boom. Agreed, he's already achieved nice victories on the road, but mainly in prologues such as PN and Dauphiné. Perhaps he more likely gazed upon the position of super talent for the classics than he's ever truely been in real. Not taking away the fact that he indeed is a man with great potential.
Concerning this year, I can see how he can be a 'dark horse' for some of us, quite frankly, but he certainly isn't one of the favorites for the podium. Perhaps that's the blessing he needs for succes. Because when you look at it, he booked most of his road-victories when no-one was truely expecting him to dig that deep, such as with the prologues. So perhaps he suffers under the pressure. I think the perfect example for that requires us to go back to his crossing time. As a youngster he joined the elite in the field and took the World title. He was superiour, as he was the year after. The year of the WC in his homeland Netherlands, Hoogerheide. It was almost a certain win. He was more like expected to win. Unfortunately for him he couldn't live up to the expectations.
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