Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen]; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who won the 2005 world road race championship. He is a member of the Etixx–Quick-Step team, and is a single-day road specialist with a strong finishing sprint. He won the cycling monuments Paris–Roubaix 4 times and the Tour of Flanders 3 times, among many other prestigious victories, such as prevailing 5 times in the E3 Harelbeke, winning 6 stages of the Tour de France and winning the...
ProfessionCyclist
Date of Birth15 October 1980
CityMol, Belgium
corner enter good hard hectic last perfectly sprint straight
First you have to be in a good position, then enter perfectly the last corner. Then you have to get out of the corner with enough speed. And only after that, you sprint straight away. It is going to be a very hectic and hard sprint.
doubt finish great kept last line mark riders saw sprint start waited
In the last 300 meters I saw Alejandro start to sprint for the finish line but I just kept going and waited for the 200 meter mark to start mine, ... I never had a doubt about any of the riders in the team. They were great today, especially on the last lap.
percent
I'm not a 100 percent satisfied, but let's say 98 percent,
conditions finally great stage ticked won
The conditions were very difficult, but I had ticked off this stage and it's great to have finally won it.
affect crashed hurt
I crashed and it hurt a bit, but it did not affect the sprint. I was on the left, he was on the right.
comments extra found knew motivated motivation ready
I was very motivated and very focused, ... I found some extra motivation from all the comments that said Boonen wasn't in shape,' but I knew I would be ready for the world's.
eventually kept line past wheel
Alejandro started to go for the line about 300 meters out and I just kept on his wheel and eventually managed to get past him.
riders
I don't want to look for any excuses, some riders were just better than me.
begin good hurt knee lacking start
I'm lacking a little competition, but the knee is fine. It doesn't hurt and it's good enough to start the Vuelta and begin my preparations for the world's.
chances green jersey man might next stage stages today tour win
For me, the Tour started today and I really wanted to win a stage because, after next Sunday, there will not be that many chances for sprinters to win stages and the man in the green jersey might take it to Paris,
base race time
I didn't look for him and I didn't see him. If you base your race on another rider, most of the time you lose.
ahead matters ok others prepare worry
It's OK that the others are ahead of me here. It doesn't worry me. I really didn't try in this Vuelta, ... I'm only here to prepare for the world championships. That's the only thing that matters to me right now.
ahead came fitness leave might okay others peak percent reached top worry
It's okay that the others are ahead of me here. It doesn't worry me. I really didn't try in this Vuelta. I only came to the Vuelta to recuperate my fitness and I leave here at about 80 percent fitness. If I was here at top fitness I might not have reached the peak at the world's. At Madrid, I want to be 110 percent fitness and I didn't want to peak too early.
easy good relax stage until won
It's good to have won that stage because now we can relax and take it easy until the end of Paris-Nice.