Professional Cycling For the Fans - where is Tom Boonen?

what, he's not a sprinter anymore? what's his speciality now besides hiding in bunch? QS had to pull a lotta strings to get his coke snortin' butt into the TDF and old tornado tom ain't doing jack.

what's up with that :eek:?

ed rader

Ed, I don't know where you get your ideas.

He was never a pure sprinter. He's there to help and get some training. He had a tough spring and is also a bit injured. He may not be a Cavendish but at his best he can still ride most people off his wheel, a la the Tour of Flanders.

Ed, I don't know where you get your ideas.

He was never a pure sprinter. He's there to help and get some training. He had a tough spring and is also a bit injured. He may not be a Cavendish but at his best he can still ride most people off his wheel, a la the Tour of Flanders.

okay, who's he helping and what's he training for? what has his team done?

ed rader

Training for the rest of the season? There's much more after the TDF is over. You see, some riders do races simply so they can get racing miles in.

Not every one is in France to win. He may be there to help Chavanel and Pineau. Quick Step has never been much of a GT team so I'm not sure what you point is.

One has to be somewhat of a sprinter (unless you're Eddy Merckx) to win the Geen jersey.

Training for the rest of the season? There's much more after the TDF is over. You see, some riders do races simply so they can get racing miles in.

Not every one is in France to win. He may be there to help Chavanel and Pineau. Quick Step has never been much of a GT team so I'm not sure what you point is.

boonen used to contest and win stages in the TDF and i don't see him anywhere. that's my point :eek:.

he's probably hiding from Cav. at least tyler farrar and thor have the huevos to contest the sprints :eek:!

ed rader

Training for the rest of the season? There's much more after the TDF is over. You see, some riders do races simply so they can get racing miles in.

Not every one is in France to win. He may be there to help Chavanel and Pineau. Quick Step has never been much of a GT team so I'm not sure what you point is.

If Quick Step didn't bring Boonen to the TDF to try to get results, they would have been much better served to make nice with ASO, and let Boonen train elsewhere. There are other races.

I find it difficult to believe that Boonen and Quickstep went to the trouble for him to show for training.
Perhaps he thinks he can ride into some form, and perhaps win in Paris.

Why are you playing the troll ed? You don't really care about where he is. You're just trying to show everyone how you have no respect for anyone who specializes in anything but the TDF.

They may have thought he could ride himself into form. My understanding is that he's been a bit dinged up for a while now but perhaps thought he could at the least help Chavanel.

Why are you playing the troll ed? You don't really care about where he is. You're just trying to show everyone how you have no respect for anyone who specializes in anything but the TDF.

let's not get personal. if you want to do that e-mail me. why are you such an apologist for boonen? you think he's riding a good tour? hell no he's not. neither is his team.

ed rader

Considering Boonen won the green jersey 2 years ago, his performance so far as been really bad. He isn't even showing up in the top 5 on the sprint stages.

From Velonews Live Coverage of Stage 11:

CPelkey: Word at the start is that a frustrated Tom Boonen, who hasn't contested a field sprint yet and has said this might be his last Tour de France, had a change of heart overnight and promised to try to win the stage today.

4:07 [Comment From Robb ]
One would think Boonen would be happy as a clam just to be there. Is he acting like a spoiled brat or does it just seem that way from here in the bleacher seats?

4:09 CPelkey: I would guess that's just the view from the bleachers. Do recall that he won the points jersey in 2007 and he would like a shot at that again ... although it's doubtful.

Can't help but wonder if the motivation came, in part, from team boss Patrick Lefevre, who spent a chunk of change on legal fees to get Boonen into the race.

Or I could be completely wrong. Just my opinion.

From Velonews Live Coverage of Stage 11:

CPelkey: Word at the start is that a frustrated Tom Boonen, who hasn't contested a field sprint yet and has said this might be his last Tour de France, had a change of heart overnight and promised to try to win the stage today.

4:07 [Comment From Robb ]
One would think Boonen would be happy as a clam just to be there. Is he acting like a spoiled brat or does it just seem that way from here in the bleacher seats?

4:09 CPelkey: I would guess that's just the view from the bleachers. Do recall that he won the points jersey in 2007 and he would like a shot at that again ... although it's doubtful.

Can't help but wonder if the motivation came, in part, from team boss Patrick Lefevre, who spent a chunk of change on legal fees to get Boonen into the race.

thank you! that's my point :eek:! boonen should have skipped the tour and checked into rehab ... get his head on straight. he's still young ..........

ed rader

Do we know he has an addicition?

No,, but when you test positive for coke on multiple occassions, and in the process put your multi million dollar earnings in jeopardy, there's a decent inference that there is a problem.

Do we know he has an addicition?

Being a professional athlete, yet testing positive for cocaine multiple times, then using the fact that you were insanely dunk as an excuse, is a clear sign that he has substance abuse issues.

Ed's question is legit.

I do know Boonen wrecked on the wet roads into Barcelona. That kept him out of that sprint, but beyond that he has been a huge non-factor. It does raise the question why QS was keen to get him into the race in the first place.

It's easy to pick him out of the peloton in the Belgian national champ kit. Usually rolling in with the pack after Cav has smoked Thor and Tyler in another sprint.

Do we know he has an addicition?

i'm not sure about "we" but given he didn't ride the tour last year because of a cocaine positive and then almost was not allowed to ride this tour because of his third cocaine positive ..... i'd say there is a problem.

after all the hassle his team went to get him in the tour you'd think he'd at least be a little more visible.

ed rader

I'm willing to concede that he has shown periods of immaturity in the past.

On the second stage, he had to ride off course to avoid a crash -- did not contest sprint.
On stage three -- was not in the infamous split iirc -- did not contest sprint.
As mentioned, crashed into Barcelona -- did not contest sprint.

The last two days -- haven't reviewed the film. But, I think it is safe to say, Tom is probably not on the best form. And he has had at least three incidents (above) which probably haven't helped either his physical or mental form.

I suspect he is stuck -- probably wasn't planning on riding the TDF. Won the court battle, of course had to ride at that point to save face. Not in good form, injuries and the cocaine thing, and the result is his rather poor performance thus far.

On the second stage, he had to ride off course to avoid a crash -- did not contest sprint.
On stage three -- was not in the infamous split iirc -- did not contest sprint.
As mentioned, crashed into Barcelona -- did not contest sprint.

The last two days -- haven't reviewed the film. But, I think it is safe to say, Tom is probably not on the best form. And he has had at least three incidents (above) which probably haven't helped either his physical or mental form.

I suspect he is stuck -- probably wasn't planning on riding the TDF. Won the court battle, of course had to ride at that point to save face. Not in good form, injuries and the cocaine thing, and the result is his rather poor performance thus far.

Very good analysis.

No,, but when you test positive for coke on multiple occassions, and in the process put your multi million dollar earnings in jeopardy, there's a decent inference that there is a problem.

How many times has he tested positive for it? Coke is a 72 hour drug, which means its not detectable after that. So if hes testing positive for it, it generally means regular use. Not sure on addiction but at the very least regular.

I would also hazzard a guess that QS is doing it for publicity. Sure, Boonen has had his share of problems recently, but despite that, he still has plenty of fans and I'm betting QS needs his mug in the peloton, whether he can contest the sprints or if he's just there to carry up water bottles to team mates.

Hey. Quit dissin' on Tommy. He finished 16th today. :p

I'm going to add on a layer of doping conspiracy theory and venture that he's keeping a low profile because he's afraid of getting tested.

Take your pick:

a) Off mountain biking.
b) In the second bunch.
c) Sliding along the tarmac
d) Getting patched up after "C"
e) Waiting to get a new wheel after flatting, "again".
f) See "E".
g) Off wandering around clubs at night looking for "motivation" and "form" after learning at the last minute that he would in fact be in the tour.

I feel for the guy. Someone close to him needs to assist him at finding some help. I hope we see him return to his prior form.

Boonen knows that he can't beat Cavendish unless unusual conditions are present. While not a pure sprinter he is a good sprinter when he is in top form both physically and mentally. At the present time I don't think that he is in top form, either physically or mentally.

I don't think that he was planning on coming to the TDF and was probably not completely prepared. I also have noticed that to me he seems to have lost some motivation in the last couple of years because he knows he can't win many sprint stages again'st the current lineup of top level sprinters. Long, hard single day races are what he's best at and he seems to be more motivated and better at concentrating on those races.

At the current time he is also somewhat injured after a fall a few stages back.

Also, the levels of Coke found in his system showed that he is not an addict. The levels were too low for a repeated user. He got drunk and lost judgement or someone slipped him some Coke when he was drunk. This has happened twice now.

One thing that strikes me about Tom is that he almost seems like too nice of a guy to thrive in the highly competitive environment that he is in. And he has been put under a lot of pressure by the press to perform and win stages in big 5-7 day stage races that are really not his specialty.

He's in a dark alley laying next to some trash can smoking a crack pipe!!

Boonen knows that he can't beat Cavendish unless unusual conditions are present. While not a pure sprinter he is a good sprinter when he is in top form both physically and mentally. At the present time I don't think that he is in top form, either physically or mentally.

I don't think that he was planning on coming to the TDF and was probably not completely prepared. I also have noticed that to me he seems to have lost some motivation in the last couple of years because he knows he can't win many sprint stages again'st the current lineup of top level sprinters. Long, hard single day races are what he's best at and he seems to be more motivated and better at concentrating on those races.

At the current time he is also somewhat injured after a fall a few stages back.

Also, the levels of Coke found in his system showed that he is not an addict. The levels were too low for a repeated user. He got drunk and lost judgement or someone slipped him some Coke when he was drunk. This has happened twice now.
One thing that strikes me about Tom is that he almost seems like too nice of a guy to thrive in the highly competitive environment that he is in. And he has been put under a lot of pressure by the press to perform and win stages in big 5-7 day stage races that are really not his specialty.

yeah that's perfectly normal behavior which does not indicate there is a problem :roflmao2:!

ed rader

He's in a dark alley laying next to some trash can smoking a crack pipe!!

You are soooo witty!

Boonen has been evolving into a spring classics specialist, something many cycling journalists have been predicting for a couple of years. To prove them correct, he did win the last two Paris-Roubaix's. His loss of raw fast-twitch horsepower is being supplanted by endurance. But he's still to heavy to succeed in the mountains of the grand tours.

Tom is a hell of racer, and is likely not on form. I can see him being a good flat time trialist if he chooses to.

Richard

Cavendish and his perfectly organized lead out team are too much for anyone to overcome.

Ed's question is legit.

I do know Boonen wrecked on the wet roads into Barcelona. That kept him out of that sprint, but beyond that he has been a huge non-factor. It does raise the question why QS was keen to get him into the race in the first place.

It's easy to pick him out of the peloton in the Belgian national champ kit. Usually rolling in with the pack after Cav has smoked Thor and Tyler in another sprint.


Its not hard to work out at all. He is the biggest sportstar in Belgium. He is Belgian road champion.

They still should have taken Davis though. There have been two finishes tailor made for him (Barcelona and yesterday).

I doubt he is an addict he is just a party boy. At his age and with his star status there are a lot of temptations that he seems to give into. The party lifestyle probably does not help his conditioning and with the problems he has had at the beginning of the tour on the rode it does not look like his head is into the race right now.