Robbie made the right choice

According to his father Ken, Robbie McEwen has the athletic abilities and the fighter's spirit from his mother Jackie. "I like it. I love the atmosphere," Jackie McEwen told the VUM papers yesterday. "Our Robbie has made a good life for himself. We weren't happy when he decided to become a professional cyclist three months before finishing his teacher's training. But he made the right decision. Some chances you have to grab because they don't come back" said Ken.

According to Sport.be, Robbie McEwen hasn't given up all hope that he can wear the green on the podium in Paris. "The battle for the green jersey won't be stopped now. When I fell in Angers last year and wasn't able to grab any points, everyone thought that I had to give up my dreams for a second green jersey. But I was on the podium in Paris, even though the consequences of that fall were not minor. That's why I keep believing in it now also."

A former winner of the green jersey, Eddy Planckaert, commented on Belgian TV last night that he believed Tom Boonen was the man to do it. "To win the green jersey you can't just be another sprinter. Erik Zabel was a fantastic winner of that points jersey, a truly complete cyclist, and so is Tom Boonen. He'd be a worthy winner of that jersey."

Courtesy of Sabine Sunderland