When Tour de France points leader Robbie McEwen of Davitamon-Lotto was asked Monday what he thought about rival sprinter Tom Boonen saying after Sunday’s stage 8 in Lorient that he was giving up on the green jersey, the little Aussie stated, "He’s lying."

McEwen knows that Quick Step’s Boonen has been frustrated by not winning a stage in the Tour’s opening week and that he’ll come back — maybe starting on Tuesday, during the 169.5km stage 9 from Bordeaux to Dax. The stage is the flattest of the 2006 Tour, its highest point being 223 feet above sea level.

It will be tough for breakaways to stay clear on the long, straight roads that head south through the pine forests of the Landes region, especially as a strong tail wind is forecast. It’s possible that frequent attacks and the willingness of the sprinters’ teams to chase could push the pace beyond the Tour’s road stage speed record of 50.335 kph, set by Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini in 1999.

To break the record, the stage winner will have to cross the line in 3:22:00 or less.

On paper, McEwen will take his fourth stage of the Tour and his 12th overall to equal the number of Tour stages taken by Cipollini in his illustrious career. The Aussie is confident and fighting fit; he said Monday, "I’m always tired after the first week, but the rest day always comes on time." He now has his lead-out man, Gert Steegmans, fully trained. And the uphill finish straightway in Dax is almost identical to those where McEwen won on stage 4 at St. Quentin and stage 6 at Vitré.

Just as those finales featured some twists and turns through the town before heading up a long straightaway, so Tuesday’s at Dax has 10 turns between 3km and 2km to go. The 2 percent uphill grade ends with 1.5km to go — which gives hope to Boonen that he gets his lead-out men working for him before Steegmans launches McEwen.

Others who should be in the mix are Spaniards Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Isaac Galvez (Caisse d’Épargne) — especially as Dax is less than an hour’s drive from the Spanish border — and those who’ve been knocking on the door all week, like Erik Zabel (Milram), Bernard Eisel (Française des Jeux) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole).