Former Belgian Classics great Tom Boonen has confirmed that he will be back in the E3 Saxo Classic with his old team Soudal-QuickStep on Friday, but his precise role remains uncertain.
Boonen won the E3 Saxo Classic no fewer than five times, making him the record holder for wins in a race often seen as a key warm-up and form guide for the Tour of Flanders.
Article continues below“I’m going to take a look. I saw Niki a few times this winter and I see that there really is a revival going on within the team,” Boonen said.
[Team CEO] "Jurgen Foré had also called me once asking if we could do something together, without attaching an official title to it yet. My first reaction was: ‘ But I don’t know anyone anymore.’
"I’m going to follow a few races now, just to see if I still have any connection with current cycling and if I feel anything for those guys. The team has had a lot of bad luck this year, but there are a number of good riders among them.”
“I am not traumatized by racing, but I had had enough of it," he told the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast.
"In the final months of my career, I didn’t feel like it anymore. I still enjoyed racing and training, but the rest… It had all become so serious, too.”
“I do what I want. I earn something from some things, but not from others," he concluded. "But that doesn't matter to me at all. I try to be happy in life, and I succeed.”
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