Tomorrow, two and a half months after undergoing knee surgery, Tom Boonen will finally make a long-awaited return to racing when he lines out in the Circuit Franco-Belge.
The Belgian Quick Step rider said that he was glad to be back in action. “I really wanted to get back to the peloton,” he said. "I have really wanted to get back into the peloton. I've been able to train very well in the last two weeks. I have done long sessions of intense training on the roads of Monaco. My knee is fine, my mood is good and I'm very motivated.”
Boonen first ran into problems with his knee in a crash at the Tour of California in May. He was forced to pull out of the race but recovered sufficiently to start the Tour de Suisse on June 12th. However the troublesome joint got another bang when Mark Cavendish and Heinrich Haussler crashed three days later, bringing down Boonen and several others in the bunch.
He did what he could to get ready for the Tour de France but had to admit defeat, missing both that race and the chance to defend his Belgian road race title beforehand. He then underwent a knee operation on July 15th. Since then he has been trying to get back into shape and while he is ready to resume racing, he stresses that expectations should be realistic.
“Obviously, the rhythm during the race will be different than it is during training, so the four stages of the Circuit Franco-Belge will be especially important to get used once again to racing,” he explained. “I hope to be able to race without problems, and with no accidents.”
Had Boonen not had knee problems, he would be making final preparations for the world road race championships on Sunday. He won the title in 2005 in Madrid and while the Geelong circuit is a more difficult one, he would nevertheless have fancied his chances if fully fit. As his two victories in the Tour of Flanders prove, when he is on form he is able to cope well on short, sharp climbs.
He will be joined by Dries Devenyns, Nikolas Maes, Francesco Reda, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Andreas Stauff, Kevin Van Impe and Wouter Weylandt in the four-day race.
Boonen will hope to pick up a morale-boosting result before the end of the season, although it is likely that Paris-Tours will come too soon for him. He was second last year to Philippe Gilbert in the race, which takes place on Sunday October 10th.