ZLM Tour prologue destroy doubts about form of Garmin-Cervélo rider
Tyler Farrar still had some doubts about his Tour de France participation, but a good prologue in the Ster ZLM Tour has made the decision for him. Farrar was seventh in the seven-kilometer prologue and is now getting ready for the biggest race of the year.
Farrar called his ride not bad, considering the distance. “This prologue was a little too long for me,” he told Wielerflits after the race. “Until five kilometers I can ride a good prologue as a sprinter.” For the fast men, the prologue is often important in order to get the yellow jersey in the sprint stages following an short opening effort against the clockl. This is not something that Farrar will be thinking about now. “I think I lost time in the last two kilometers,” he said.
While he isn’t thinking about the leader’s jersey in the Netherlands, he still hopes for some stage victories in the bunch sprints. “I am not at 100 percent yet, but the Tour de France isn’t until three weeks from now.” Recent racing has erased some doubts about his form. “I had a good feeling at the Critérium du Dauphiné.”
He won’t be competing much ahead of the Tour. “After the Ster ZLM Toer, I’ll take a break. I will be at the start of the Tour.”
Farrar is still trying to come to terms with the death of his good friend Wouter Weylandt at the Giro d’Italia. With the fatal incident still not very long ago, Farrar had a hard time concentrating on racing. He wasn’t going to ride the Tour if he didn’t have the form. The Dauphiné and the ZLM Tour came just in time for Farrar to make the start line in Liège. Liège is not too far off his European base, the beautiful city of Gent.
Farrar has three wins this season, with the Trofeo Palma de Mallorca, the Trofeo Cala Millor and the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. His classics campaign was solid, with a third place in Dwars door Vlaanderen – Waregem as well as in Gent-Wevelgem. Farrar was unable to make the front group in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, but consoled himself by winning the bunch sprint for 13th, less than 90 seconds behind winner Nick Nuyens.