Time for Discos to shine

Despite naming perhaps the strongest roster of any team on the tour, the American outfit has little to show for its efforts so far.

George Hincapie was edged out by Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher by just a fraction of a second in the prologue, and the past two days have seen Yaroslav Popovych (left) and Max van Heeswik frustrated in their attempts at a stage win.

Hincapie and Schumacher once again look set to vie for the time-trial victory, but Leif Hoste and Yaroslav Popovych are not to be discounted. Hoste, a former Belgian time-trial champion, finished 11 seconds off the pace in the prologue, and his sights for this stage should be firmly set on a top five finish..

Ukrainian Popovych has not kicked on as may have been expected after he took the white jersey in the Tour de France last year, though his talent is unquestioned, and his victory in a breakaway on stage 12 of this year's Tour de France shows he remains a threat.

Current leader Tom Boonen has little chance of recording a third stage victory this week, and his objective will be to lose as little time as possible on Schumacher and Hincapie, who lie 13 and 17 seconds back respectively in the general classification.

Liquigas' Manuel Quinziato (above right) was reluctant to set himself any firm targets for the tour after his breakaway win on Friday, though lying in second, just 11 seconds adrift of Boonen suggests he cannot be discounted as a contender for overall victory.