Dutchman Lars Boom has been named as one of five Rabobank riders that will line up at the start of the Tour de France this July in Rotterdam. The cyclo-crosser turned roadie showed his continued progression earlier this year by winning the 8 kilometer prologue in Paris-Nice ahead of Tour de France contenders Alberto Contador (Astana) and Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack).
Rabobank will be the only Dutch team at the start of the Tour de France this year, which means the squad will have added pressure to excel on home soil in the opening prologue. At 8.9 kilometers in length, the effort will be only slightly longer than the Paris-Nice opener, putting Boom in with a chance for a high placing.
The former U23 time trial champion had a successful Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España last year. He started the race off well, wearing the king of the mountains jersey for a day after his efforts on stage four, and then going on to an impressive win in the 168 kilometer stage to Cordoba, finishing alone after attacking a break of 12 with over a minute and a half to spare.
His team also announced that he will have the company of Robert Gesink, Laurens ten Dam, Denis Menchov and Juan Manuel Garate in July. The five will be heading to the Sierra Nevada mountains on May 18th for some altitude training, with Gesink and Ten Dam also heading to pre-ride stages in the Pyrenees. Boom, Gesink and Ten Dam will likely used the Tour de Suisse as their final tune-up before heading to Rotterdam, but the rest of their schedule is still unclear.
Rabobank will announce the other four riders for their Tour de France team in the weeks leading up to the race.