Tom Boonen celebrated his newly signed contract with Etixx-QuickStep on Saturday by taking out the stage 1 sprint finish at the Tour de Wallonie in Belgium. Boonen beat Iam Cycling's Jonas Vangenechten to the line, with Arnaud Demare (FDJ) rounding out the podium in third.
The opening stage was animated early by a three-man breakaway that included William Bonafond (AG2R-La Mondiale), Viacheslav Kusnetsov (Katusha) and Thomas Deruette (Wallonie-Bruxelles - Group Protect). The trio’s advantage quickly reached five minutes after 20 kilometers. With 40km remaining the sprinters’ teams came into action and started chasing down the gap.
Boonen launched his sprint 250 meters from the line and was able to get the best best of Vangenechten and Démare for his first win of the 2016 season.
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"I'm happy to have won this sprint was very long, launched in the 250 meters,” Boonen said. “I could produce my real acceleration to 150 meters.
“I stayed at the front of the race during the last kilometers. I found the wheel of my teammate Yves Lampaert in the final kilometer and it was really perfect. I'm glad I could impose myself in Mettet and to have the first yellow jersey of the Tour de Wallonie.
“We came to win and it's already done. I do not really have legs but I'll try to fight to win. My goal is the world championship of Qatar where I have come with my best sprint. And I will use the next classic, London, Handzame, Hamburg, Plouay, to prepare for the global event."
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