Boasson Hagen out of Tour of Flanders

Team Sky's Norwegian sensation Edvald Boasson Hagen will not start the Tour of Flanders this Sunday as he is still recuperating from tendonitis of his Achilles tendon, his team announced today. He has been suffering from the ailment since Milan-San Remo.

The team's medical staff and management made the decision in order for Boasson Hagen to work towards his main goal, Paris-Roubaix, in one week's time.

“We’re making a prudent decision regarding Edvald’s injury and by way of precautionary measure, this is for sure the right thing to do. He is on the right road to recovery, but since he still has some problems with his Achilles, we’re not taking any risks. By doing so, he’ll still be able to train progressively and focus on Paris-Roubaix and hopefully be able to make his mark there.” says Team Sky’s senior sports director, Scott Sunderland.

Boasson Hagen, the winner of last year's Gent-Wevelgem, was forced to relinquish his hopes of repeating that victory this year due to his injury.

He rode his first Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix last year, coming 66th in Belgium and 62nd in France. However, after moving across from the HTC-Columbia team to Team Sky this year, the Norwegian was to be one of the team's protected riders for the two events.

“I’m sad miss out on Tour of Flanders as I have been looking forward to this race for a long time. But I still haven’t gotten completely rid of my tendonitis, so I need to save myself a little, so I can still be competitive in Paris-Roubaix.

"This is clearly not what I had hoped for, but I’m very hopeful that I have a good chance of getting ready for Paris-Roubaix and that race is still a very big goal for me”, said Boasson Hagen.

Boasson Hagen will be replaced by Greg Henderson in the Tour of Flanders.