With the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem trophies already in his case this year, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) will be going for the trifecta on Sunday when Paris-Roubaix gets underway.
Boonen’s Belgian team is sending a host of reliable names to support him, including most who have been with him throughout his resurgent Classics season. Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel will accompany Boonen, as will his trusty lead-out man Gert Steegmans, along with Dwars door Vlaanderen champion Niki Terpstra.
The current WorldTour points leader is coming off of a 130th place finish at Scheldeprijs but preceded that with three straight wins, beginning with the E3 Prijs Harelbeke and following that up with Gent-Wevelgem and Flanders.
With the unfortunate crash of Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan) and subsequent broken collarbone in a Flanders feed zone crash last Sunday, Paris-Roubaix will be operating without its other primary favourite. Given Boonen’s recent resurgence, the Belgian is the overwhelming tip to take the Hell of the North, but Boonen insists that there are others.
“Maybe I’m one of the favourites, but I’m not the only one,” he said at the team’s pre-race press conference Friday. “Pozzato and Ballan showed at the Ronde van Vlaanderen that they are in great condition. Both are very, very good at the moment. I am a little more explosive than them [in a sprint], but you never know in a race like [Paris-Roubaix]. It’s always complicated.
“It is not also just Pozzato, Ballan or a rider like Van Summeren. It’s also other guys, for example, Flecha, Eisel, or Hushovd. In the Spring Classics, I think Hushovd wants to show something.”
None of the riders Boonen named have shown the scintillating form that he has, though it should be an experienced bunch of riders who are his biggest challengers. Pozzato, Ballan, Flecha and Hushovd have all stood on the podium in the Roubaix velodrome, and Van Summeren is the returning champion.
Along with those named riders, Rabobank could be protecting last year’s third place finisher Martin Tjallingii, Radioshack-Nissan will be supporting the underrated Gregory Rast, and GreenEdge has former champion Stuart O’Grady running the show.
“The guys that are here are really motivated,” Boonen added. “They are in good shape. We are ready to fight and do a good race. I can count on a big team effort.”
Going so well at the moment, and with three Paris-Roubaix titles already to his name, Boonen faced the inevitable questions about equaling Roger De Vlaeminck’s record of four wins.
“[In terms of] the record, if I say I’m not interested in winning Paris-Roubaix four times, I would be lying,” he admitted. “We will see. I am always motivated for this race, but for sure this gives me a little extra motivation.”
Omega Pharma-Quick Step for Paris Roubaix:
Tom Boonen, Sylvain Chavanel, Iljo Keisse, Gert Steegmans, Niki Terpstra, Matteo Trentin, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Stijn Vandenbergh