Another award for Tom Boonen - ready for the next season

Tom Boonen won the Sprint d’Or 2006 award yesterday. The award of the French speaking RTBF tv and radiostation was won by Boonen for the third time in a row. Philippe Gilbert grabbed a second spot and Nico Eeckhout completed the podium with a third place. The jury with  former riders like Eddy Merckx, Lucien Van Impe, Freddy Maertens, Ferdinand Bracke, Pino Cerami, Michel Dernis, Claude criquielion and Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke  decided that Boonen again was the best belgian rider of the year. The audience of RTBF voted for Philippe Gilbert as the best belgian rider, Gilbert received 37,9% of the votes. Boonen was second here.

Tom Boonen is ready for the 2007 season. Boonen told Belgian daily sports sportwereld.be: "I go in Meerbeke voor three in a row. That seems to me a record. Surely as a flemish rider." Boonen looked more thin than last year, Boonen said: My adipose is still seven percent, last year it was eleven percent around this time of the year. For me the circus may start as soon as possible. I even have to restrain deliberately otherwise I will peak too early."

Boonen won't change a lot in the coming season: "After Qatar i will add a few days Mallorca. I will start in Doha with the goal to win immediatly. I want it that way and I also feel a commitment to the country. I want to win as many races as possible," Boonen said.

Asked which classic race he would choose if he could: "Not very difficult: the Tour of Flanders. I just saw the images of my second victory, above all in the rainbow jersey. A victory that many people will remember in years to come. You share something like that with the rest of Belgium. It still gives me goose bumps," Boonen said.

The 2005 world champion continued by saying: "In April I have the unique opportunity to become co-record holder. Although I am not the sole captain. That doesn't matter. It is our advantage that we have four leaders on paper. That is no luxury. With the arrival of Steegmans and Van Petegem we have a good basis team for the classics. A fourth E3-Prijs in a row would also be a desirable aim, but wouldn'd that be a bit extraterrestrial?"

Asked if he wants a revanche for this years Tour although he wore the yellow jersey for four days, Boonen said: "I never gave a thought to it for a second. Although I learned from the mistakes I made. Sometimes I have to wind down. It is futile for me to train climbing before the Tour. Two years ago I won on the Champs-Elysées without riding one meter at the cols before. This time my sprint muscles have decreased. It already came up during the Belgian championships. But it was an extraordinary good year. That I would like to repeat."

Asked if he is still getting better, Boonen said: "Ofcourse. It is there. I am feeling that I am stronger. I have a better heartrate. It shows that my body regenerates well. It is also refelected in the tests. I used to use the winter to work. Now I only rest."