Boonen starts with a bang at Tour of Qatar

When every season is built around the same two Sundays of the year, it’s only natural to have some fixed points of reference along the way. For Tom Boonen, two such test sites stand out – the Tour of Qatar, where he performs an early quality control on his winter training, and the climb of the Taaienberg at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where he traditionally heralds the coming of spring by lining out the peloton.

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Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.