The 2015 season has been a bumpy ride so far for Etixx-QuickStep's Tom Boonen, and that’s having traversed fewer cobbles than in any other season in his career. The Belgian raced Omloop-Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne but on the first stage of Paris-Nice in March he dislocated his AC-joint in his left shoulder, ruling him out of the Classics season proper. There would be no opportunity to add to his four Paris-Roubaix titles, his three at the Tour of Flanders, or even his five at E3-Harelbeke.
Boonen has only just returned to racing at the Tour of Turkey and when asked ahead of the sixth stage on Friday how much he has missed the cobbles, he said emphatically: “A lot!
“I was watching the races on the TV and especially the first races it was very painful. If you work hard for those races and you miss them just by one week before with a crash, it’s very painful."
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This year’s events seem to have sharpened the 34-year-old’s perspective and he has come to terms with the fact he doesn’t have a wealth of Classics campaigns ahead of him.
Having already enjoyed such glittering success, his ambitions now are not so lofty – absence makes the heart grow fonder and simply getting back there before the end of his career would suffice.
“I would like to have one more shot at the Classics with no bad luck,” he said. “I have already achieved everything. If you look back at the last three seasons I’ve almost had everything you can dream of. It’s not been easy [missing this year] but I’ve been able to cope with it and get back to a decent level.
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