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Boonen Wins Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
posted by at 09:07 PM on March 02, 2009
Tom Boonen took a revenge victory at Sunday’s Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne a day after a late-race spill spoiled his chances in the Belgian classics opener Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Tornado Tom was still fuming after a crash in the final sprint of Saturday’s race (ex-Het Volk) nearly drove him into the fences, but he made amends with a dominant finale to claim his second victory in three years at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
“I am so glad to win here, because I was so close yesterday at Het Nieuwsblad,” a happy Boonen said. “It was a very difficult course, like a true classic. I feel honored to have had the team working so hard for me today. With Maarten (Wijnants) and Sylvain (Chavanel) in the front group, the situation was ideal.”
Following 10th in Saturday’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Boonen capped a strong opened weekend of the Belgian classics with an elegant victory in Sunday’s final sprint.
The 2005 world champion out-kicked Bernard Eisel of Austria while Jeremy Hunt of Great Britain came through third to round out the podium.
Boonen’s victory is also marks the fourth consecutive trophy at KBK for the Quick Step team.
“The pace was brutal today. We were in the red all day,” Boonen said. “The team rode just perfect. We had the support and rode just where we needed to be. All I had to do was execute the sprint.”
With defending champion Steven De Jongh sidelined with tendonitis, Boonen was a big favorite among the 194-rider field in the 194km race that looped between Kuurne and the Belgian capital of Brussels.
Just after rolling out of the start, the entire field stopped for a moment’s of silence outside the house of Belgian rider Frederiek Nolf, the 21-year-old who died in his sleep during the Tour of Qatar on Feb. 5.
Things started quietly enough but heated up on the famous Oude Kwaremont cobble-stoned climb, which busted up the peloton for good with about 75km to go.
Chavanel and Wijnants marked a potentially dangerous move off the front while Boonen patiently worked in a chase group.
The two came together to form the winning group of 13 riders while the remainder of the peloton was left to fight for leftovers.
There was a flurry of attacks out of the winning group in the final 10km, the most dangerous coming from Juan Antonio Flecha of Spain. Chavanel sacrificed his own chances of winning by chasing down the attack, opening the door for Boonen to take the victory.
“It was a real team victory today. We carried the weight of the race on our shoulders. Everyone rode today like a unit and that’s only good for the races to come,” Boonen said after claiming his third victory of the 2009 season. “After this first weekend of racing in Belgium I feel like I am already in better shape than last year.”
The pair of strong performances will bode well for Boonen as he heads into the meat of his spring classics campaign.
The double winner of Flanders and Roubaix, Boonen is still searching for an elusive first win at Milan-San Remo.
Boonen’s next major goal will Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17), where he will prepare to improve on his third place at the 2007 Milan-San Remo.
“After some good racing at Tirreno, I should be in perfect condition going into the big spring classics,” he said. “The first big goal is Milan-San Remo.”
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