Boogerd aiming for Salzburg

Another rider here with the twin aims of riding for his team leader while also preparing for the world championships is Rabobank's Dutch champion Michael Boogerd. He was in good form during the Tour de France, being prominent in several mountain stages and finishing 14th overall. He said on Friday evening that he was a little off that level but hoping to improve. "I am not yet in that form," he stated. "I am here to train, to work hard and to try to be good in the worlds, Zurich and Lombardy."

Unlike O'Grady, Boogerd has had a chance to preview the world championship course. He's lukewarm about the parcours. "It not my favourite course but we will try to make the best of it...it is a big easy, I think. That said, it is always difficult to say how it will end up; I thought last year's course wasn't so hard either but it was really hard on the day. Verona was really tough but the race itself wasn't hard enough. So maybe this year..."

Before then, he will build form on the carreteras of Spain. "I will be riding for Denis Menchov, as was the case in the Tour. Normally he will be going for the general classification here so we will try to do our best for him. I'm not sure yet how his form is...I didn't see him so much [after the Tour], I only saw him in San Sebastian, but he was really good there. I hope he is good here also."