Tom Boonen: I love it, it's like coming home 🇧🇪 🏡
The Belgian legend is back with Soudal Quick-Step as he mulls over a potential role
Hey Subscribers,
A very quick update from a freezing press room in Harelbeke during E3 Saxo Classic. It was a productive start at the race this morning, and we will have interviews with Philip Roodhooft about Alpecin-Premier Tech contracts, transfers, and team building, Benjamín Noval on signing with Ineos Grenadiers for 2027, and a feature exploring how the Spring Classics influence the transfer market - for riders and teams.
But we start with this exclusive with Tom Boonen, who I bumped into at the start this morning.
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I’m going to warm my hands now, but we’ll have the race conclusions either tonight or tomorrow morning. If you’re interested in the list of upcoming stories, you can take out an annual subscription and save 20%, at £52 for a whole year of exclusive content.
Daniel 🫶
There’s always a crowd outside the Soudal Quick-Step team bus at the Spring Classics. It’s a given, regardless of the form of their star riders or the weather, but on Friday morning in Harelbeke, there was an even larger gathering than usual around the bus, with Tom Boonen back with the team and preparing for a ride in the team car at E3 Saxo Classic.
This, of course, is a race that Boonen won a record five times during his illustrious career, but since his retirement in 2017, his appearances at races have been sporadic.
However, when Soudal Quick-Step boss Jurgen Foré called the former rider and offered him a seat in the car and a possible route to an official role later on, Boonen seized the opportunity.
“I don’t have a role, I’m just here to watch the race. I’m going to follow the race with Niki Terpstra, and I’m going to give some bottles to the riders whenever there’s a chance. I was in the team meeting yesterday as well, but a race like Harelbeke doesn’t have many secrets, and all the team meetings are the same for a race like this. I gave some good advice because I know these races very well. Most of the time, the real decisions are made behind the hills and not on the hills. There are a few roads that are very tricky,” Boonen told me.