Tom Boonen (Quick.Step-Innergetic) (Image credit: Anthony Tan)
Keep the pressure down - and the beer flowing
Victory in today's Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen looked all too easy for Tom Boonen, but according to him, that's his problem: "I make it seem easy." Anthony Tan learns a little more about the world champion's winning formula to keep the pressure down.
Today may not have been his biggest win, but it was by far the most popular. In Belgium, he is a hero. In the province of Antwerp, he is idolised. And in the region of Kempen, Tom Boonen is god.
So when the seven out of an eight-man Quick.Step team forged the winning break no more than 20 kilometres in the 94th edition of Flanders' oldest race, the Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen, the ever so anxious crowd in Schoten had already decided who would win - and Boonen knew it.
"I think everybody saw me on the podium 100 kilometres before the finish line, so yeah, there was some pressure - I couldn't fail," he admitted to Cyclingnews, despite the fact that, before the start of this race, he already added another 12 victories to his fast-growing palmarès so far this season.
