Boonen's girlfriend: "Tom never stays angry for long"

Lore, Tom Boonen's girlfriend gave her own view on yesterday's stage this morning in an interview with Radio Donna. The eroding friendship between the two Belgian sprinters teams in this Tour is hot news in Belgium. The fact that McEwen broke the unwritten law that the peloton stops for a call of nature whenever the Yellow Jersey feels the need might not have gone down well within the peloton itself, but in Belgian newspapers and national TV news bulletins the disagreement between Boonen and McEwen has been built up into a more serious issue.

As usual, Lore isn't really worried about it. "I have to say, I only saw the last 15km. But I heard something about what happened during the stage. I only know that Tom was a bit irritated after the stage yesterday; but he's never angry for long. It's really hard to have a quarrel with Tom, he doesn't like that at all, it's almost impossible for him to stay angry with someone. He forgets about it as soon as he turns his back.

"It's true Tom wasn't feeling good on Thursday; but he says he is getting better now, so that's positive to hear. I thought it was good to see him beat McEwen again. To see him pull those handlebars like that is great. We were laughing here in front of the telly, my friend was saying 'look at it, what a bear of a man Tom is, and on those small tyres!' It sometimes looks like his bike will fold under his strength."