Lars Boom (Rabobank) is running on an empty tank in Vuelta A Espana, his first ever grand tour. After putting in a remarkable ride to win stage 15 to Cordoba the former u23 Time Trial World Champion was aiming for a good result in the time trial but couldn’t overcome the fatigue from the previous day’s efforts that saw him help a demoralized and injured Robert Gesink (Rabobank) to the finish line.
“Naturally you’re tired after so many race days. Yeah, the time trial was a disappointment, but now I am looking forward to the World Championships” the young Dutchman told RaboSport.
What looked like another grand tour victory in the making for Team Rabobank crumbled to pieces when Gesink crashed in stage 17 on the way to Talavera de la Reina, sustaining deep cuts that required several stitches. A rather anticlimactic ending, but Boom disagreed:
“Actually it wasn’t too bad. Wednesday was really disappointing. Thursday and Friday we had to ride extremely hard, but we all gladly did this. It was a really close team. What we accomplished will never be taken away from us. Aggressive racing, Robert’s class in the mountains, sitting in second until his crash but still in sixth, me winning a stage and the team was really strong. We would have signed for that before the start.”
With such a strong debut, Boom has already been touted as the next big thing. The Dutchman however remained relaxed and down to earth. “We will see what the future has in store. I am not really thinking about that now, however good this debut might have been. I’m not closing out the idea about my future, but now it’s mainly learning and enjoying. I definitely did that in this tour. I didn’t come with expectations. Whatever happens, we will see in the future.”
Boom, 23, will be heading to Mendrisio, Switzerland for his first ever Elite World Championships to take part in both the time trial and the 262 kilometer road race. Boom is no stranger to World titles, already having three cyclo-cross world titles to his name, winning two in the u23 category and one in the elite category. After graduating from the Rabobank Continental team just last year, a shot at glory in his first year as a professional shouldn’t be put past him.
Whether he is itching to pick up his cyclo-cross bike Boom replied “No, not at all. I don’t have the feeling at all. I’m a road cyclist and the cross season is still very far away for me. The last few years I started quite late. When I will start crossing, that question hasn’t come to mind. First the world championships, than we will see where I will race in October, and then finally cyclo-cross.”