Tom Boonen has stuck a defiant note on the eve of the 2016 season, telling reporters at the Etixx-QuickStep training camp in Calpe that he has recovered well from the head injury he sustained at the Abu Dhabi Tour and decrying the “predictable” tactics of many of his Classics rivals.
Boonen was initially told that he could face up to six months off the bike after he suffered a temporal bone fracture in Abu Dhabi in October that damaged his hearing but the Belgian returned to training in late November and believes his preparations for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix remain on track.
“Before the first training camp, I wasn’t able to do much and I thought it would be a big setback but in the end I was able to train with the guys and it all went much better than I expected,” Boonen said. “I think at this point, I don’t have any more ground to make up, I’m almost at the same level I was at this point last year.”
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Since his last Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix victories in 2012, Boonen has endured a string of misfortunes each spring, most recently in 2015 when he dislocated a shoulder joint in a crash at Paris-Nice and was ruled out of the Classics altogether. He hopes fortune will allow him a clear run at April this time around.
“I think I deserve it after the past three seasons, I’ve had my share of bad luck,” Boonen said. “I mean, I wanted to do Abu Dhabi because I wanted to finish the season as late as possible and have a short break, and prepare the spring classics in the best way possible, and then this happens again… But I hope from now on all the bad luck is behind me.”
Boonen dismissed the idea that he had considered retirement due to his accumulated bad luck – “Quitting is the easiest way, eh?” – and although he only committed to a one-year contract extension with Etixx-QuickStep, he does not appear minded to follow Fabian Cancellara into retirement at the end of this season.
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