Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) may be 35 in less than a week’s time, but the Belgian cycling star says his motivation to continue has been boosted by a strong end of season and that his overall condition remains as good as 2012 - his best ever year “in terms of being consistently successful”.
After a difficult start to 2015 when he crashed out injured in Paris-Nice, ending his Classics campaign even before the bulk of it had begun, last weekend Boonen won the Sparkassen Munsterland Giro, an Hors Categorie one-day race in Germany, and on Thursday he took second on the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour.
In other years Boonen has raced as late as Paris-Tours and Putte Kapellen, Belgium’s last one-day race of the season. But the last time he won so late in the year (and indeed the only time he has won a race in October before in his career) was a stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge back in 2009.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I’m not entirely happy with this year, because I had to miss out on the Classics,” Boonen told Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure. “Failure in the Classics means a failed year, even if I win some races.
“But I’m finishing my season in good shape, and in some ways I wish 2015 wasn’t ending so soon, even if I’m very keen to build towards the next.”
Boonen says that “compared to 2012, which was my most consistently successful season, I haven’t lost anything either mentally or physically.” That year, he won the top four cobbled Classics in a row, from Harelbeke through to Paris-Roubaix, and after winning a stage of San Luis in January and the Tour of Qatar in February was still winning top events like Paris-Brussels in September.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1LuDfIX
No comments:
Post a Comment