Tom Boonen lining up for the Belgian National Championships
After a terrific start to his 2012 season, Tom Boonen is now targeting the Belgian National Championships scheduled on Sunday, June 24th, 2012.
He told Sporza, “It’s the first time that I’ll race a Belgian championship near my home”.
“While I’m out training, everybody is encouraging me, even more than for the Tour of Flanders”.
The 31-year-old is having a tremendous season and currently secures the second overall position at the UCI Individual World Tour classifications.
He is holding 366 point at the category with a total deficit of 38 UCI points with Bradley Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali and Peter Sagan holding the third, the fourth and the fifth positions with 335, 272 and 253 UCI points respectively.
Boonen’s long list of victories include the first place finishes at the Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Flanders, the Gent-Wevelgem and the E3 Harelbeke.
He finished second at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and secured the first overall spot at the Tour of Qatar along with point’s classifications and two stage victories at the race.
Tom also secured the second stage of Paris-Nice, the seventh stage at the Tour de San Luis and is looking good for the coming part of the season.
The 31-year-old wins the Belgian National Road Race Championships in 2009 and is optimistic to make it his second win at the contest.
“I’ve really made a goal of the Belgian championship,” Boonen commented.
“People might say, ‘it’s just a Belgian title,’ but I think it’s a very nice prize. I’ve done all I can to be good for it. I’ve been training hard in the last few weeks”.
The Belgian is confident that his current form will give him a definite advantage at the race.
He also noted that although the track is only 14.9 kilometre long but it has various dangerous turns which will make the race very interesting.
“I’ve really made a goal of the Belgian championship,” he cited.
“People might say, ‘it’s just a Belgian title,’ but I think it’s a very nice prize. I’ve done all I can to be good for it. I’ve been training hard in the last few weeks”.
Tom will skip the Tour de France and is focussing the 2012 Olympic Games as the next big goal of his 2012 season.
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