A year ago, Quick Step-Innergetic’s Tom Boonen came to the Tour de France with both the rainbow jersey and heavy expectations on his shoulders. The two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders and reigning world champion came to the Tour with four stage wins to his name and was expected to add to his tally while contesting for the green points jersey. Instead, Boonen did neither, leaving the Tour after stage 15, having worn the yellow jersey for four days.

Asked about his main objective for this year’s Tour at a pre-race press conference on Thursday, Boonen played it coy, initially saying, “My main objective is to ride my bike and have a nice time here,” before finally admitting, “of course to win a stage is the first objective.”

Boonen admitted that he was quite sure of himself heading into last year’s Tour, but that “didn’t work out so good.”

“I feel relaxed now,” he added. “I think the preparation is different. We’ll have to see if it is better, but I feel better than last year. I’m more relaxed and I think I’m fresher. The very, very good sensations in the legs aren’t there yet, but I know from the past that my best sprints I always did when I was feeling bad, so I hope it will the same this year.”

Boonen left the 2005 Tour during stage 11 due to injuries sustained in multiple crashes. He surprised the cycling world last year when he abandoned on stage 15. Among his reasons for leaving were “sickness,” “heat,” “difficulty breathing” and “bad hotels.”Boonen said it was easy to look back and see that he had over prepared for last year’s Tour.

“Last year I was in too good of shape before the Tour,” Boonen said. “I worked too hard, that was the only problem. I did too much work in the mountains. I was trying to get the condition as high as possible. It as okay, I was very good. But because I did so much work my speed went a little bit down. It cost me one to three percent in the sprint, and that’s the difference between winning and losing. In my case it was losing. It wasn’t so hard to realize that afterwards.”

With the stage 2 finish in Gent, less than an hour from the Belgian sprinter’s hometown, Boonen said he would love to take the yellow jersey into his homeland but admitted he might have to wait until the end of stage 1 to take it.

“I am dreaming of a chance in yellow, sure, but the [7.9km] prologue is long, it’s not four or five or six kilometers, which is perfect for me,” Boonen said. “Eight kilometers, it’s still possible, but it’s already long. I will try very hard. It’s a lot of work. I’ve already done a lot of work, but not as much as the other guys that are specialists. I think I can do a good result in the prologue, and the next day will decide if I can take time back on the yellow jersey. In the best case maybe I can take it straight away to Gent, otherwise maybe I can take it in Gent.”

Asked about his stance on the UCI’s anti-doping charter relating to Operación Puerto, Boonen said he couldn’t speak for his team, only for himself, when he said he didn’t agree with the way it was presented to riders.

“A little more communication would have been welcome,” Boonen said. “The things that are in the charter are good, but we already signed the same charter [the ProTour code of ethics], so I think it’s not so useful.”

For the second year in a row Milram’s Alessandro Petacchi won’t factor into the mass sprints. Last year Petacchi was recovering from a broken kneecap; this year he was left off Milram’s team due to a drugs suspension. Boonen said he didn’t foresee Petacchi’s absence having a profound affect on the final kilometers of the sprint stages.

“The teams of Quick Step and Milram have always been able to work together pretty perfectly,” Boonen said. “We’re trying to get he same goals. During the preparation of the sprint it was always nice to work together with them. They have the team here right now that is able to do it, and I’m sure they will work for [Erik] Zabel. Maybe the motivation is a little less, but they would be stupid not to. Otherwise the Tour is very long. I don’t think things will change. The sprints won’t be harder or less hard. It’s just one less sprinter to compete with.”

Given last year’s less than perfect race, it won’t take more than a stage win to make Boonen’s Tour a success. The green jersey, which he wore in 2005 before abandoning, would be icing on the cake. Asked about his love-hate relationship with the Tour, Boonen smiled.

“The Tour has given me more than I have taken from it,” he said. “I’ve won four stages, I’ve had the green jersey for two weeks, I’ve worn the yellow jersey for four days, so that’s not so bad on three Tours. But I’ve had some bad luck also, just like every rider. It’s a race like every other, and if you have bad luck or injuries because of crash, that’s it. And it’s always possible to get sick, it’s not because you are in the Tour you are a Superman or something. I like the Tour but maybe I dislike it a little because it is so hard. In any case it’s a very nice way to get to know yourself and where your borderline is. I’ve already checked it a few times here.”