The continuing decision of what teams' riders will ride on what continent in overlapping key stage races in May was further flushed out with the announcement former world road titlist Tom Boonen (Quick Step) will compete in the Tour of California for the third straight year.
Boonen won a Tour of California stage in 2008 when he outsprinted Heinrich Haussler and Mario Cipollini in the stage from Santa Rosa and Sacramento.
Boonen, who claimed the world road title and Paris-Roubaix in 2005, is also scheduled to race a full Classics campaign beginning with Gent-Wevelgem this weekend.
“For the sponsors the Tour of California is an interesting prospect," Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere told CyclingNews. "We’ll have a team in Belgium, Giro and California and it’s a lot of work so we have to figure out who is doing what, but Tom Boonen is someone who is motivated to do races that he likes."
This year, with the Tour of California moving to a new date (May 16-23), it will overlap with the Tour of Italy, which begins May 8.
Many of the world's top teams will field squads in both events, with the exception of Radio Shack, which will compete only in the Tour of California and not the Tour of Italy.
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