Tom Boonen is nearing the end of an incredible career which has seen him win the World Championships, the Tour of Flanders three times, Gent-Wevelgem three times and E3 Harelbeke five times amongst many other victories.
In addition, alongside Roger de Vlaeminck he also holds the record for Paris-Roubaix wins with four. Boonen won the race for the first time in 2005, and followed up with victories in 2008, 2009 and 2012.
Boonen had a very difficult season last year, crashing out of Paris–Nice in March and suffering a dislocated shoulder which ruled him out of the rest of the classics season.
Then he crashed again on the second stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour in October, which left him unconscious. He sustained a temporal fracture from the accident.
After initially being told by doctors that it would take six months to recover, in a newspaper interview in December Boonen stated that he was training well two months after the crash without any trouble. However the accident had left him with permanent damage to his hearing
This video goes behind the scenes as Boonen tries for an unprecedented fifth win at Roubaix and he outlines why the race is so special and what still motivates him.
I hope he does well 🙂
awesome vid