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Saturday's race against the clock should provide the first solid indication of the top contenders in cycling's showpiece event now that Lance Armstrong is retired and several of the best riders have been eliminated because of a doping investigation and crashes.
Boonen, the world champion, was the overall leader at the start the 117-mile route from Lisieux to Vitre, on the edge of Brittany. The field, passing through many Normandy towns damaged during World War II, was reduced to 171 riders after Italy's Fabio Sacchi failed to start.
Midmorning rain cleared just before riders set off, but skies remained overcast and many contenders wore rain jackets. The hilly course offered chances for riders to pedal ahead of the main pack, but sprint specialists have caught all breakaway attempts so far, setting up group dashes to the finish line.
Boonen is wearing the prized jersey that Armstrong took home for seven straight years until 2005, and he admits it's "causing a lot of strain."
The Belgian actually covets the green jersey given to the Tour's best sprinter, and doesn't see himself as a contender to win a race that will be decided in time trials and mountain stages.
He is close behind Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen, who holds the green jersey he won in 2002 and 2004. Boonen, runner-up Spain's Oscar Freire in Thursday's stage, has yet to show the explosiveness from the past two Tours.
He is in the yellow jersey for the first time this year and acknowledges it is "more heavy for me because I'm not supposed to wear it." But, he added Thursday, "I'm very, very proud of it."
Some Americans hope to be decked out in yellow when the Tour clears the tough Alpine stages in the third week.
"I've imagined it enough," said Floyd Landis, leader of the Phonak team. Landis is a strong solid time-trial racer and mountain climber, and spent years as an understudy to Armstrong before joining Phonak.
Discovery Channel rider Georgie Hincapie, who rode alongside Armstrong on all seven of his victories, captured the yellow jersey Sunday, only to relinquish it a day later.
"It was great, a really special feeling, something I've always wanted to do," Hincapie said. "To have it for a day is a big accomplishment for me."
