Tom Boonen

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Tom Boonen
Tom Boonen at the start of Omloop Het Volk 2007.
Tom Boonen at the start of Omloop Het Volk 2007.
Personal information
Full name Tom Boonen
Nickname Tommeke
Tornado Tom
Torpedo Tom
Date of birth October 15, 1980 (1980-10-15) (age 29)
Country  Belgium
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 82 kg (180 lb; 12.9 st)
Team information
Current team Quick Step
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Classics Specialist
Sprinter
Professional team(s)1
2002
2003-
US Postal Service
Quick Step-Davitamon
Major wins
MaillotMundial.PNG World Cycling Champion (2005)
MaillotBélgica.PNG Road Race Championship, (2009)
Jersey green.svg Tour de France, points jersey (2007) plus 6 stages
Vuelta a España (2 Stages)
Paris-Roubaix (2005, 2008, 2009)
Ronde van Vlaanderen (2005, 2006)
Gent-Wevelgem (2004)
Tour of Qatar (2006, 2008, 2009)
Medal record
Competitor for  Belgium
Road bicycle racing
World Championships
Gold 2005 Madrid Elite Men's Road Race
Infobox last updated on:
April 13, 2009

1 Team names given are those prevailing
at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Tom Boonen (born October 15, 1980 in Mol) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer who won the 2005 World Road Race Championship. He is a member of the Quick Step team, and is considered a single-day road race specialist with a strong finishing sprint. His personality and looks, combined with his successes, also turned him into Belgium's main male sports idol of the mid-2000s, but he has incurred censure after testing positive twice for the use of cocaine[1].

Contents

[edit] Career overview

At the start of 2002 Boonen rode for the US Postal Service team, finishing third in Paris-Roubaix after an early breakaway. Fellow Belgian rider Johan Museeuw had escaped off the front of the race to a solo victory, and team captain George Hincapie crashed in a slippery section of the course leaving Boonen to ride for himself. Boonen's performance in the race compelled Museeuw - his childhood hero - to publicly declare Boonen his natural successor.[2]

However, Boonen was not completely happy at US Postal, claiming he did not get enough chances to ride for himself. Towards the end of the year he announced he would leave the team, despite being under contract, and joined Quick Step-Davitamon at the start of 2003.[3] The 2003 season, however, did not go well for Boonen, who saw lacklustre performance due to fatigue and a knee injury. In this season Museeuw was the undisputed team leader for the spring classics campaign.

The 2004 season saw Boonen rise up to the challenge to win the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, the classic race Gent-Wevelgem and the Grote Scheldeprijs. In addition, he also won two stages of the Tour de France including the prestigious final stage in Paris, just as Museeuw did in 1990.

[edit] 2005 - Winning Ronde, Roubaix and Worlds

2005 was the year in which Boonen firmly established himself as a competitor on the world stage. Winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, and finishing second in the Omloop "Het Volk" (behind teammate Nick Nuyens), he stamped his authority on the cobbled Spring Classics. Boonen also became the first cyclist in history to win the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, and the World Cycling Championship in the same season.

In his Ronde van Vlaanderen victory Boonen was considered the strongest sprinter in the final group of riders. However, instead of waiting for the final moment, he attacked a few kilometers from the finish to the surprise of other riders in the group, and stayed away for a solo victory. One of the other riders in the peloton, Erik Dekker, afterwards declared that "I'm happy that I am near the end of my career, since with a cyclist like Boonen the spring classics will be rather boring the coming years".[4] In his Paris-Roubaix victory, he entered the Roubaix velodrome in the leading trio, and waited until the last moment before launching a sprint that saw him beat American George Hincapie and Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha.

In the Tour de France, he won the second and the third stage. In this edition, Boonen claimed the green jersey after the second stage. However, he was forced to retire from the race after stage 11, after multiple crashes. The jersey was reliquished to Norwegian Thor Hushovd, who held on for the rest of the tour, becoming the eventual winner. On September 25 he became the twenty-first Belgian World Champion after the World Cycling Championships in Madrid. A six-man breakaway was reeled in in the final straight by the group that he was in, before he powered home ahead of Alejandro Valverde. He is the first Belgian since Museeuw, in 1996, to wear the rainbow jersey. With these victories he secured second place in the overall standings of the 2005 UCI ProTour.

At the end of the year Boonen won several awards: Kristallen Fiets (Crystal Bicycle), Vélo d'Or (Golden Bicycle), Trofee voor Sportverdienste (Trophy For Sporting Merit), Belgian Sportsman of the year and Belgian Sports Personality of the Year.

[edit] 2006 season

In 2006, Boonen again had an incredible start of the season, highlighted by winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen again.

After the incredible start, Boonen had a disappointing Tour of Belgium. Before the start of the 2006 Tour de France, he claimed that he considered himself the strongest and smartest sprinter. However, he did not win a stage in the first week and found himself outclassed by the speed of Robbie McEwen and the tactics of Oscar Freire.[neutrality disputed] In spite of this, he was able to claim the yellow jersey for the first time in his career, but lost it in the first time trial to time trial specialist Sergei Honchar.

Boonen signing in at Tarbes during the 2006 Tour de France

Boonen abandoned the Tour de France during the 15th stage - 187 km from Gap to l'Alpe d'Huez - when he was unable to reach the summit of the Col du Lautaret. According to the team manager, Boonen lost a lot of weight during the Tour, and got a much needed rest period where he was able to regain it.

With regained strength, at the Eneco Tour of Benelux he won three stages. However, he was unable to defend his world title at the UCI Road World Championships, held on a circuit that was less flat than in Madrid 2005, and lost his title to Quick Step-Innergetic teammate Paolo Bettini, finishing ninth.

[edit] 2007 season

In his 2007 season, Boonen went off to a great start again by winning five stages at the Tour of Qatar and finished second overall after teammate Wilfried Cretskens. He later won several local Flemish races like Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, but failed to win any classics. His best effort in that respect was a 3rd place in Milan-Sanremo, resulting in an overall slightly disappointing spring season.

Next Boonen took part in the Tour de France. In the absence of main rival Alessandro Petacchi, and after an early injury to Robbie McEwen, he met expectations by winning two stages (stages 6 and 12), and winning the Maillot vert competition. It was the first Belgian green jersey since Eddy Planckaert's in 1988.

[edit] 2008 season

Boonen at the 2008 Paris-Roubaix

Boonen began his 2008 season by winning four stages and the overall and points classifications in the Tour of Qatar. In the Ronde van Vlaanderen, his first main goal of the season, he showed good form but took on a defensive role when his teammate Stijn Devolder escaped and subsequently won. The week after, he outsprinted Fabian Cancellara and Alessandro Ballan in the final 500m to win the Paris-Roubaix. On June 10, 2008, several sources claimed that Boonen was negotiating with Bouygues Télécom about a contract, which sporting director Jean-René Bernaudeau confirmed. The move to Bouygues would involve two or three riders going with him, with the names of Wilfried Cretskens and Kevin Hulsmans frequently named [5].

On that same day though, it was revealed that Boonen had tested positive for cocaine in a test on May 26. Since this was outside competition, and cocaine is not considered a performance enhancing drug, Boonen did not face sanctions by the UCI or WADA. During a press conference the day after, he offered his apologies and team manager Patrick Lefevere stated that, since these were considered difficulties of a private nature, team Quick Step maintained its confidence in him. Despite the absence of official sanctions, Boonen was immediately barred from the Tour of Switzerland and later from the Tour de France. [6][7] In February 2009 a Belgian court found him guilty of cocaine use but decided not to hand down criminal sanctions against Boonen, saying that he has "been punished enough".[8][9]

[edit] 2009 season

Boonen began his 2009 season by winning a stage and the overall and points classifications in the Tour of Qatar. He also won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne for the second time in his career. In the Ronde van Vlaanderen, his first main goal of the season, he showed good form but as in 2008 he had to take on a defensive role when his teammate Stijn Devolder escaped and subsequently won the Ronde for the second time. The following week Boonen won Paris-Roubaix for the third time.

On April 27, Boonen tested positive for cocaine in an out of competition test for the third time (the first occasion, in November 2007, had not previously been made public) and was suspended by his team, Quick Step, on May 9,[10] and re-entered competition with them in the 2009 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. Shortly after, in June, he won his National Championship. After a long legal struggle he was allowed to enter the Tour de France one day before the start on the 3rd of July 2009. Citing illness, he withdrew from the Tour on July 18, 2009, before the fifteenth stage.

[edit] Personal life

Boonen has been living in Monaco since late 2005.

[edit] Palmares

2002
1st Stage 1 Volta a Catalunya
1st Stage 2 International Uniqua Classic
1st Wilrijk (derny Criterium)
3rd Paris-Roubaix
2003
1st Stage 3 Tour of Belgium
2004
1st Gent-Wevelgem
1st Stage 6 Tour de France
1st Stage 20 Tour de France
1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
1st Grote Scheldeprijs
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall, Tour de Picardie
1st Jersey green.svg Points Classification
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 2
1st Stage 2 Deutschland Tour
1st Stage 7 Deutschland Tour
1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Andalucía
1st Prologue Ster Elektrotour
1st Stage 1 Ster Elektrotour
1st Stage 3 Circuit Franco-Belge
1st Stage 4 Circuit Franco-Belge
1st Stage 3 Tour of Britain
1st Draai van de Kaai Roosendaal
1st GP Rik Van Steenbergen
1st thirty 3rd Nacht van Peer
1st forty 3rd Mijl van Mares
1st Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde
3rd Overall, Tour of Qatar
1st Jersey green.svg Points Classification
1st Young Rider Classification
1st Stage 2
2005
1st MaillotMundial.PNG Road World Championships - Road Race
1st Stage 2 Tour de France
1st Stage 3 Tour de France
1st Stage 1 Paris-Nice
1st Stage 2 Paris-Nice
1st Paris-Roubaix
1st Ronde van Vlaanderen
1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall, Tour of Belgium
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 2
1st Ronde van Made, Criterium
1st Na Tour Broker Criterium
1st Acht van Chaam
1st Criterium Herentals
1st Derny Criterium Antwerpen
4th Overall, Tour of Qatar
1st Jersey green.svg Points Classification (Silver Jersey)
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 2
10th Overall, Tour de Picardie
1st Stage 2
2006
1st Ronde van Vlaanderen
1st Stages 1 Paris-Nice
1st Stages 2 Paris-Nice
1st Stages 4 Paris-Nice
1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
1st Doha International GP
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall, Tour of Qatar
1st Jersey green.svg Points Classification
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 2
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 5
1st Stage 5, Vuelta a Andalucía
1st Grote Scheldeprijs
1st Stages 2 Tour of Belgium
1st Stages 3 Tour of Belgium
1st Veenendaal-Veenendaal
1st Stage 1, Tour de Suisse
1st Stage 1 Eneco Tour of Benelux
1st Stage 3 Eneco Tour of Benelux
1st Stage 5 Eneco Tour of Benelux
1st Stage 6, Tour of Britain
2nd Paris-Roubaix
Tour de France
Held Jersey yellow.svg Maillot Jaune in Stage 3-6
2007
1st Jersey green.svg Green Jersey Tour de France
1st Stage 6
1st Stage 12
1st Stage 4 Vuelta a Andalucía
1st Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
1st E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
2nd Overall, Tour of Qatar
1st Jersey green.svg Points Classification
1st Stage 1 (TTT)
1st Stage 2
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 4
1st Stage 6
3rd Omloop "Het Volk"
3rd Milan-Sanremo
2008
1st Paris-Roubaix
1st Stage 3 Vuelta a España
1st Stage 16 Vuelta a España
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall, Tour of Qatar
1st Jersey green.svg Points Classification
1st Stage 1 (TTT)
1st Stage 2
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 6
1st Stage 2 Tour of California
1st Stage 5 Tour of Belgium
1st Stage 4 Ster Elektrotoer
1st Stage 7 Österreich Rundfahrt
1st Stage 1 Tour de Wallonie
1st Stage 1 Eneco Tour
1st Stage 4 Eneco Tour
1st Stage 1 Circuit Franco-Belge
2nd Grote Scheldeprijs
2009
1st MaillotBélgica.PNG Belgian National Road Race Championship
1st Paris-Roubaix
1st Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
1st Stage 3, Eneco Tour
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall, Tour of Qatar
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 3 Circuit Franco-Belge
2nd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
2nd Paris-Tours
3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen


[edit] References

[edit] External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Óscar Freire
UCI Road Race World Champion
2005
Succeeded by
Paolo Bettini
Preceded by
Magnus Bäckstedt
Winner of Paris-Roubaix
2005
Succeeded by
Fabian Cancellara
Preceded by
Stuart O'Grady
Winner of Paris-Roubaix
2008, 2009
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Steffen Wesemann
Winner of Ronde van Vlaanderen
2005, 2006
Succeeded by
Alessandro Ballan
Awards
Preceded by
Peter Van Petegem
Crystal Bicycle
2004–2006
Succeeded by
Sven Nys
Preceded by
Stefan Everts
Stefan Everts
Belgian Sportsman of the Year
2005
2007
Succeeded by
Stefan Everts
Sven Nys
Preceded by
Kim Gevaert
Belgian Sports Personality of the Year
2005
Succeeded by
Sven Nys
Preceded by
United States Lance Armstrong
Vélo d'Or
2005
Succeeded by
Italy Paolo Bettini