Boonen goes two for two in Tour of Belgium

Tom Boonen scored a second consecutive sprint victory in the Tour of Belgium, winning the 170.4km stage from Leirde to the coast at Knokke-Heist. The Omega Pharma-Quickstep rider let his lead-out man Gert Steegmans fade off the front in the closing meters, then jumped around Belkin's Theo Bos to nab the stage win and bonus seconds on the line.

Steegmans held on for a narrow second place over Bos, moving into third overall behind the Dutchman.

"My goal was to win these two stages," Boonen said. "I'm so happy I won today. Yesterday really gave me confidence, so I can say this win really feels good on top of that! This final was really tricky though, with the finish being uphill. Steegmans went early and had a gap, but I saw he couldn't make it to the line. That's when I went, right at the end.

"You can't make mistakes here. Last year I was 2nd as I made a crucial mistake, and I didn't want to let this happen again. It was really hectic, but in the end I made it. I have to thank my teammates for helping me today as well. Tomorrow I will go full gas in the time trial. It will be a test for me in this leader's jersey, but we all know it's Tony's time to shine tomorrow."

Boonen leads the race by 12 seconds over Bos, with Steegmans tied with stage 1 runner-up André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) at 14 seconds.

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