Boonen finds "fantastic" course in Varese

Quickstep rider Tom Boonen, as well as team-mates Andrea Tonti and Giovanni Visconti, have reconnoitred the parcours of this year's World Championships in Varese on Thursday. The 2005 winner of the event described the course as "fantastic. It's perfect for fast men like myself or (Oscar) Freire, and even for riders like (Danilo) Di Luca and (Paolo) Bettini." The Worlds course in Varese consists of 15 laps of 17 kilometres, adding up to a total of 255 kilometres. The race held on September 28 will finish in a horse race track, which will be converted to a velodrome in summer.

Boonen told Belgian News agency Belga that, "This year's Worlds will be a very open race, which will make it more interesting but also more stressful. There are a lot of turns and the climbs will be started almost out of a full stop. Which means that you always have to be in front to keep a chance of winning.

"This specific aspect will make the race completely different to Madrid, where I won, or to Salzburg and Stuttgart, where Bettini won," the Belgian concluded.