Tom Boonen met today with the press prior to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in the Holiday Inn UZ — Gent after OPQS Cycling Team performed reconnaissance on the route of Omloop.
Boonen discussed several important topics: His condition, his teammates, the competitors, and the race itself.
"I don't feel as confident as I did last year for the race," Boonen said. "But it is what it is for the moment. I think right now I just need to try to do as many races as possible. I have as many question marks as everybody else about my shape. I really don't know, I have no idea how I will react after 200 kilometers, hill after hill, cobblestone after cobblestone. Today at training I tried to go a little bit faster and it was still hard, but we'll see."
"In general we went easy today, we didn't really try because of the strong wind," Boonen said when asked about his observations of teammates today. "Nobody tried to do something special. I think Stybar was going really good in Oman. For sure Niki Terpstra and Chavanel will be able to play a role as the captain in the final of Omloop if I will not be there. We have a few guys that will normally be in the final and we'll try to put one of them in front. I will do my best to be there again as last year or to play a role for my teammates if the feeling isn't the same as last year."
"The wind is probably the most important factor of the day on Saturday." Boonen said. "If it is the same as it was today It's going to really destroy the race. it is going to be a very hard race."
"As for my competitors, I haven't really seen all of them," Boonen continued. "I think Van Avermaet was going good in Oman. For the rest I didn't really see all of them. They were all racing in Algarve, or the races in Mallorca when I wasn't there. I will do my best regardless of the condition of my competitors, and hopefully I can get a good result."
