Tom Boonen wins the Tour of Flanders
Tom Boonen declared his team-mates Filippo Pozzato and Sylvain Chavanel as favourites for the Tour of Flanders before start of the race.
He was pretty much right as Pozzato might not grab to top podium spot but the cyclist rode brilliantly to secure the second position at the Belgian race.
The first position belonged to Tom himself who finished moments ahead of his team-mate to fill his bag with yet another victory.
Alessandro Ballan of Team BMC fell one second short and had to settle for the third spot while Greg Van Avermaet and Peter Sagan occupied the fourth and the fifth positions respectively.
It is the third victory by Boonen at the Belgian race after his dominance at the 2005 and 2006 versions of the event.
The cyclist was overwhelmed after winning the eighth Grand Tour race of the season and has now jumped to the top position after the UCI World Tour rankings as of April 1st, 2012.
Tom voiced, "I was worried about heading to the finish with those Italians. They know each other well and I feared that they would kill me, but the strong headwind was my ally".
"I had to count on my sprint. I started too early and didn't have much left but it was enough", he concluded.
The Belgian started his 2012 winning campaign with an overall victory at the Tour of Qatar and also succeeded at the point’s classifications of the race.
He claimed stages at the Tour of Qatar, Paris-Nice and the Tour de San Luis and finished second during the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2012.
The 31-year-old finished first at the E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem 2012 and entered the Tour of Flanders with full confidence.
Fabian Cancellara was the race’s favourite but Boonen rode exceptionally well to turn the table during the 256 kilometre race.
"The finale was tough. On the final ascent of the Paterberg we had a gap on Boonen, and I thought we would head to Oudenaarde with the two of us but he held on," the third place finisher Alessandro Ballan briefed.
Boonen is now looking ahead at the coming events of the 2012 season and with his current peak form, Tom is a hot favourite to continue his dominance at the UCI World Tour races of the coming season.
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