Tosatto impressed with Boonen

One of the important wagons - if not the locomotive itself - of the famous silver train which drove Alessandro Petacchi to victory so many times in recent years, Matteo Tosatto, is very impressed with his new sprint leader, Tom Boonen. After changing teams to support one of Petacchi's greatest rivals and getting acquainted with his new teammates and the structure of the new lead-out train, Tosatto had nothing but praise for the World Champion.

"Tom is much more explosive [than Petacchi]," the Italian told AFP news agency. "Alessandro is stronger on a long sprint, and he has more experience. Then again, Tom has won so many races already that he doesn't stand behind."

Boonen, for his part, is very happy with the services of Tosatto. "No other rider is able to lead out the peloton on the last two kilometres like Matteo does. This guy is extraordinarily strong and resistant," the Belgian said.

"I started the train's engine, then Ongarato and Marco Velo put Alessandro in the ideal position at the 200m mark," Tosatto recalled about his time with Fassa Bortolo. "Now, I have the same role, handing down the lead to Guido Trenti and then to Steven De Jongh. At the Tour of Qatar, we were able to fine-tune that, I think we are efficient!"

For the future, Tosatto predicts further victories for Boonen, especially at Milan-San Remo, a race that would be very dear to Petacchi's new team Milram, which also includes Erik Zabel. "Tom is very strong at the moment," Tosatto continued. "At Milano-Sanremo, if he can follow me on the last difficulties, including the Poggio, I'm sure that he'll win."