Belgian champ heads home to heal up ahead of Olympic Games
Image 1 of 3
Belgian champion Tom Boonen leads the peloton(Image credit: Tour de Pologne)
Tom Boonen in his national champion's jersey(Image credit: Photopress.be)
Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) debuted his Belgian champion's jersey(Image credit: Tour de Pologne)
Omega Pharma-Quickstep announced today that Belgian champion Tom Boonen has withdrawn from the Tour of Poland after suffering from sharp pains in his chest as a result of a crash on stage 1.
Boonen is slated to head back to Belgium on Sunday to have medical examinations to determine the source of the pain.
"The entire day was OK, a little bit painful but OK," Boonen said. "I worked for the team without particular problems. Then in the final, at about 30 km from the finish, I did a wrong movement to avoid a pothole in the road, and suddenly I got really bad pain on the right side of my chest. I couldn't breathe. That's why I decided to stop. It's a pity — my condition is good and here the team is fantastic, there is a great atmosphere. It's hard to leave the team here, but I have to do what is best for my health leading up to the Olympics."
Boonen chose his season schedule specifically with the Olympic Games and world championships in mind, skipping all three Grand Tours in favour of these races.
Earlier this season he won stages in the Tour de San Luis and Paris-Nice as well as the overall Tour of Qatar before going on a romp in the Classics where he claimed the E3 Prijs, Gent-Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
