Tom Boonen had great hopes of winning stages in the Tour de France and even winning them in his own country. Instead, the Quick Step rider has to sit out the race with a knee injury. Today would have been the day for Boonen, as the peloton makes its way from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Brussels, Belgium.
The prologue was already hard to watch for the Belgian. "A Tour start in the neighboring country is really something very special," he told Dutch paper De Telegraaf. "Not being able to participate gives me more pain than I had expected." He hung out with his Quick Step in the Dutch port city.
Boonen fell in the first stage of the Tour of California and has had recurring problems since. He had to abandon the Tour de Suisse before the final time trial and missed the Belgian Championships in the process. Now, he is doing physical rehab. "I can do everything again, except running and cycling. So I am mostly in the swimming pool to stay in shape."
When he was with his fellow teammates, the urge race was there. "In the bus I had the desire to get ready to race," Boonen said. "I would have loved to win the race into Brussels, but now I will just cheer on the Belgian riders."
The prologue and Brussels visits won't be his last at the Tour, as the sprinter also heads into the mountains. "I will visit the stage to the Tourmalet together with Eddy Merckx."