Tom Boonen showed that he could be the one to end Peter Sagan’s winning streak at the Amgen Tour of California, the Belgian displaying a very strong finishing kick at the end of yesterday’s third stage. He finished behind Liquigas-Cannondale rider Sagan and Heinrich Haussler (Garmin Barracuda), but was the one who was travelling quickest of the riders in the final 50 metres.
Because of that, he said that he feels the race leader isn’t as bulletproof as people presume. “Sagan is in a winning mood right now and he also found a finish that suits him here,” he said, referring to the momentum the Slovakian has built upt. “It's really something he likes and he's good at, but I think everyone is beatable. We will try again tomorrow to try and win the stage."
Boonen is convinced that if things played out a little differently, that he could have been much closer. “I tried to be there at the front in the last kilometers, but it was hard with the headwind. So I worked very hard to try and be in position for the last corner,” he explained.
"I waited for the last moment and took the outside corner ten meters before the corner came, but they [Sagan and Haussler] came from the inside a little bit faster so I lost a few spots," he said. "I was in seventh or eighth position, but I almost got them. I am satisfied with my sprint, but prefer to finish for the victory.”
Boonen was a very strong sprinter earlier in his career, clocking up victories in the Tour de France and the world road race championships as a result, but in recent years had lost some of that pace. He’s back on top form this season and has clocked up a number of important victories, both from within a bunch and also via strong breakaway moves.
He started things off with a stage win in the Tour de San Luis, then picked up two stages plus the overall in the Tour of Qatar. Once back in Europe, he continued in the same vein: victory on stage two of Paris-Nice was followed by triumphs in the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and Gent-Wevelgem, a successful three-up sprint against Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) and Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team) in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, then a dominant solo win in Paris-Roubaix.
The range of successes has given him sufficient confidence to decide to bypass the Tour de France and focus everything on the Olympic Games.
"It's not so much that I don't want to do it," he said. "I still want to do the Tour in the future. The Tour has given me a lot in the past, but this year, I'm really focused on the Olympics. I missed the last two Olympic chances, so I am really looking forward to try this new experience and try and get the best from it.”
The decision means that his Omega Pharma Quick Step team will focus everything on the GC chances of riders such as Levi Leipheimer and Peter Velits and, possibly, Tony Martin, if the German can climb well enough.
Boonen will ride the Tour of Poland as part of his buildup for London, chosing a different route than many of his rivals. He’ll hope that it puts him into prime shape and that seven years after he took the world championship jersey in Madrid, that he can add Olympic gold to his collection.