Tom Boonen: ‘In one season I did all of Mathieu van der Poel’s entire career of results’
Former world champion discussed the differences between pros then, and now
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Sirotti
Tom Boonen retired in 2017, after a remarkable career. The Belgian cyclist amassed an impressive tally of 122 professional victories. He recently gave an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, and provided insights into the present generation of cyclists and the distinctions between the current era and what he fondly refers to as “his time”. The former world champion gave some candid opinions about then and now, what’s changed, and what it would be like if he raced in the current era.
“I would have liked to have raced against today’s guys. Attacking from afar, doing something ‘crazy’, that would match well with my way of racing,” Boonen said.
He also says that the current generation has things laid out for them–their diet and training plans, which is helpful for a pro.
Pros have better support
“On the first day of the year, riders of Visma – Lease a Bike, for example, that they will be told to be at five per cent fat on April 1. That gives you peace of mind. For me, it was still: plan your own food, arrange your own physiotherapist,” he said. “Also because I was too proud to be helped too much. Now I think: why have I been so stupid not to see that you can actually get better by being guided by others.”
That guidance is much better now than it was then. At Quick-Step at the time, Boonen said that science and planning were coming along, but not quite there yet. “The knowledge was already there, but now they can apply it better. With us it was really still: taking in sixty grams of sugar per hour, the body couldn’t process more. In the meantime, it is almost twice as much,” he added. “Riders are now also on weight all year round. With us, the idea was that you had to ‘train yourself skinny’. I’ve actually been hungry for ten years.”
Far less races
The number of races that riders ride has also changed compared to the past. “All in all, today’s riders don’t race much. While I had a year in which I already had 40 race days before Paris – Roubaix. Now that’s a season. To put it bluntly: the palmares of today, there is not that much on them. Not even with a champion like Mathieu van der Poel. I rode that in one season,” Boonen joked.
Are today’s pro cyclists more sportspersonlike than 20 years ago?
He also spoke on a topic which was recently raised by Lance Armstrong. The American noticed that riders were far friendlier to each other after races, even if rivals.
A notable change in the next gen
“This generation now, these guys go hammer, race each other, some guy will lose. The guy who wins is waiting at the finish line,” he said. “They’re fucking hugging it out…I’m like, what?”
Despite his bluntness, and yes btw, he did hug a few rivals, notably Jan Ullrich, in his day, you do notice that there is an increase in friendliness and kindness in the pro ranks, which was something he, and many of his generation didn’t experience.
“You’re just waiting there so you can all hug this out? After you just lost? I’m not saying that our generation was the way to do it or that I was proud. I think it’s kind of cool to see, but it wasn’t like that for us. Never even crossed my mind,” he said.
Although Boonen retired five years after his former teammate (the Belgian raced at US Postal in the beginning of his career), he echoed the sentiment.
“What is also different now: the atmosphere between riders and between riders and press has become so much more amicable,” he said. “That’s a kind of camaraderie that didn’t exist before. If I didn’t win two classics in the spring, like in 2010 against Fabian Cancellara, I was not happy.”
The next Boonens
With victories in four editions of Paris-Roubaix, three wins in the Tour of Flanders, and a plethora of other achievements, his legacy is undeniable. Now, he has passed the torch of champion status to individuals like Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel.
“Every generation has its own champions. In any case, I would have liked to have ridden against the men of today,” he said.
Gent – Wevelgem, which Boonen won three times, goes down on Sunday.
