Cycling: Boardman sets sights on Southsea

THE PRUTOUR is billed as "Britain's Premier Cycle Race" and for once the facts match the hype. In fact, it is the only British event of any significance on the international calendar. Now in its second year, the round-Britain race has attracted 18 teams from 12 nations. Their 732-mile trek starts in Westminster tomorrow and finishes in Edinburgh next Saturday.

No 1 on the programme is last year's winner, Stuart O'Grady, of Australia, a team-mate of Chris Boardman's in the French Credit Agricole team. O'Grady raced hard in the early-season classics and has just returned to competition after a rest. The Prutour may have come too soon for him. Boardman, meanwhile, has made the British race one of his prime targets for the season.

He finished second overall last year, happy to work for his team-mate and protege O'Grady. Now the Australian looks set to return the favour. Boardman, who rounded off his preparation with daily training stints in North Wales last week, makes no secret of his ambition. "I'm not coming back to Britain just for the ride," he says, "I'll be aiming for the win."

The former Olympic champion Boardman has won three world titles and scored more than 40 road race victories, but he has never won a major tour. At 30, time is running out, the Prutour could be his best chance of setting the record straight.

The organisers have helped his cause by including a short time trial - Boardman's speciality. He knows he must record the fastest time in Monday's 4.2-mile test at Southsea to have any hope of final victory.

Whoever takes the red jersey of leadership - the Prutour eschews the traditional yellow - at Southsea will need to defend it for another six days. The sternest test is likely to be Wednesday's 106-mile leg from Bristol to Swansea, which takes in four major climbs, climaxing with the 1-in-3 Constitution Hill, just one mile from the finish.

Boardman has always been accident prone, he crashed out of the 1998 Tour de France while wearing the yellow jersey and a mass pile-up ended his hopes in the Dunkirk four-day earlier this month.

If he falls victim to some hazard en route, Credit Agricole has another prime candidate in Germany's rising talent, Jens Voigt, whose ability to win time trials and climb mountains could ensure Prutour success.

Another contender is George Hincapie, the US Postal team leader who has emerged as one of the strong men of world cycling after his breakthrough victory in the 1998 US Pro championship. Rabobank's Leon Van Bon, runner- up in the season-long World Cup series last year, is also capable of victory, although he may be content to use his sprinting speed to chase stage wins.

Last year's launch of the Prutour encouraged new team sponsors into British cycling, including the ambitious Linda McCartney Foods squad, which should land a stage win at least.

Fears that the Chinese embassy bombing in Belgrade would affect China's travel plans proved unfounded. They were the first team to arrive in London on Tuesday, eager for their first experience of a western stage race.

Tomorrow's 45-mile stage around the streets of Westminster (1.45pm) is a crowd-pleasing prelude to the serious action which starts on Monday with a 112-mile leg from Rochester to Portsmouth, followed in the late afternoon by the all-important time trial.

The other stage towns are Bristol, Swansea, Birmingham, Blackpool and Edinburgh, where the event finishes with a circuit race based on Princes Street.

THE TEAMS

ACCEPTCARD (Denmark): M Andersson (Swe), D Jonasson (Den), S Kristiansen (Nor), S Petersen (Den), J Rasmussen (Den), B Vestol (Nor).

AMORE E VITE (Italy): M Cannone (It), M Ferti (It), M Gimondi (It), H Lodge (GB), R Lyne (GB), MPuglioli (It).

BIGMAT-AUBER 93 (France): G Auger (Fr), C Capelle (Fr), C Da Cruz (Fr), L Lebreton (Fr), J Sweet (Aus), P Lino (Fr).

CREDIT AGRICOLE (France): M Backstedt (Swe), C Boardman (GB), S O'Grady (Aus), E Poli (It), H Vogels (Aus), J Voigt (Ger).

HARRODS-SIXT (GB) J Bayfield, K Dawson, M McKay, A Naylor, J Ramsbottom, M Stephens (all GB).

HOME JACK AND JONES (Denmark): F Colonna (It), M Jacobsen (Den), N Larsen (Den), M Sandstod (Den), J Silvos (Lat), M Steen Nielsen (Den).

LINDA McCARTNEY FOODS (GB): B Brooks (Aus), A Iacuone (Aus), D McKenzie (Aus), C Newton (GB), C Walker (GB), J Winn (GB).

MEN'S HEALTH (GB): M Beckett (GB), G Butler (GB), P Esposti (GB), G McCauley (NZ), H Pritchard (GB), J Tanner (GB).

MROZ (Poland): T Brozyna (Pol), M Gebca (Pol), R Rumsas (Lith), Z Piatek (Pol), P Pryzdzial (Pol), P Wadecki (Pol).

RABOBANK (Netherlands): L Van Bon (Neth), R McEwan (Aus), P Jonker (Neth), A Van Der Poel (Neth), E Dekker (Neth), M Wauters (Bel).

US POSTAL SERVICE (USA): D George (SA), G Hincapie (US), F Hoj (Den), B Joachim (Lux), J Dean (US), J Vaughters (US).

POST SUISSE (Switzerland): R Beuchat, C Charriere, F Vifian, Y Haymoz, S Montgomery, M Strauss (all Swit).