Boonen places green below worlds and classics win

Tom Boonen (QuickStep-Innergetic) is in the fight for the green jersey, leading Erik Zabel (Team Milram) by 13 points, but says winning the jersey would be "under my worlds win and the classics". Tornado Tom is confident of his chances, but will not discount his German counter part. "Touch wood, but it is looking good," he told Sports Wereld of his chances for the green jersey in Paris. "But for my part there doesn't need to be any more mass sprints."

The rest day seemed to fly by for the Belgian, who finally able to relax and watch a movie, The Godfather of Humour, at 5:45pm. Boonen even enjoyed a glass of Chignin Bergeron during dinner, kindly poured by his director Patrick Lefevere. "It's something that you have to deal with," explained Boonen of coping with Tour pressures. "The older that I get the less rebellious I am against the stresses from morning to night. Without anyone even noticing, the Tour organisers have moved the finish to prime time, and so because of this I don't make it to bed before 10:30pm. But everything is running smoothly."

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