Tom Boonen : what is he doing now ?
I am following Tom Boonen after the cocaine-affair. I think he is keeping straight now and that he is doing well. Sunday he won the last stage of the Tour of Austria. He was very happy. He said that this was very good for his condtition. Let us hope that he will become the Tom Boonen we used to know, always smiling and of course 'clean'.

Let's hope so. My sister mentioned another young rider who had been caught doping about a year or so ago. He said that in many ways he was grateful he had been caught. He had been clean as an amateur, but got pressure that he was hurting the team by not taking something. Now he rides on a team that is pushing for "clean" racing. I hope this helps all the riders and inspires Boonen to stay clean.

Last saturday Tom Boonen has started in the tour of Wallonia. He won the first stage. It is a tour from five days in the french part of Belgium. In an interview he told that he is working very hard and that he is back. It is again the old Tom Boonen. He has watched the Tour of France. He said it was not so exciting. Of course he is happy that Gert won the last stage. Tom also said that when the time has come, he will tell us all about the coke-story.

I hope that he will be able to do that soon and that he is on the road to recovering his career and life.

Cavendish won yesterday the criterion in Herentals, Tom Boonen was second. The day before Cavendish was the winner in Peer before Gert Steegmans, the teammate from Tom Boonen. Cavendish is faster than Tom, but he is 5 years younger. Now Tom knows him better. :excited:

Cavendish is having a great year, isn't he? Can't wait for the Olympic Racing because I'll be able to see that.

Wednesday the Eneco Tour has started. It is a race through The Netherlands and Belgium from the 20th until the 27th of August. Yesterday Tom Boonen has won the first stage. I am happy for him. The Eneco Tour enters Belgium on sunday. It is a race from Terneuzen (The Netherlands) to Ardooie (Belgium). And that is not so far from where I live. So I had planned to go to Ardooie and meet Tom Boonen. But now I have heard that saturday it will be his last stage in the Eneco Tour because he has to leave for Spain. There he will participate the Tour of Spain or Vuelta. Well Tom Boonen it is not nice that you won't visit Belgium. I am a bit mad :wink: But I can still go to Terneuzen tomorrow, if I want to see my heroe. Am I a bit mad ?

I wish you luck on meeting Tom Boonen. It's good to hear that he is doing well and getting his life back on track. Hopefully, he has learned from this experience.

Thanks Gaff. I just read that perhaps he will ride the stage on sunday. Let us hope ! Here I have two more pictures of him. I love those pictures especially the picture with his grandparents. They are always at any race and they love Tommeke so much. With his grandparents :

He does have a great smile and nice that his grandparents attend all his races. Let us know what happens.

Tom Boonen has won the fourth stage in the Eneco Tour who arrived in Belgium. But what a pity I could not be at the arrival in Ardooie. My mother was with me and it was to cold for her to go and see Tom, because she is also a great fan. So we watched it on TV. Now I have not seen him but I am glad he won his last stage in this Tour because now is he leaving for Spain for the Vuelta who starts Saturday the 30th of August. So again racing fun. Of course I have some pictures from the sportnewspaper :

Great news again. Tom Boonen has won the third stage in the Vuelta or the Tour of Spain. He was really strong. Afterwards in the interview he said that he was very happy, also that he is in good shape, he feels relaxed and is very fit. Let us hope that it will stay like that. He certainly does his best and is getting his life back on track. He makes his fans happy again and rewards us for always having believed in him. It has been nine years since a Belgian rider won a stage in the Vuelta. So that is also very good news for the Belgian cycling. Here are some pictures from our 'Bom from Balen', that is how he is called. Tom is a bom (bomb) on the bike and he lives in Balen.

So Tom Boonen is back on his bike and doing well. Congrats to him.

That's great news for the Bom from Balen, you and all of Belgium. Nice to hear he is getting back on track. Pardon me, but I had a huge :rotf: when I spotted that last picture. The hat looks exactly like the hat I wore on my high school drill team when we were The Mission Belles. Just brought back some memories.

Thanks girls ! Yes Gaff, that hat, we also had to laugh with it. He is not so nice with it, that is why he is become so thin. He has lost a lot of weight from training, but that is good for him. Yesterday he was the second in the fourth stage. Oh he had no luck. Bennati the leader was just before him. Then there was the bend. And Boonen took the bend to large. And so Bennati had a start of 15 m and he won. Oh Tom was so disappointed and we too. We wanted a second victory, I think we are to hungry. Bennati has the yellow yersey and Tom is second at 22 seconds. Today there is a time trial and that is not so good for Tom. He is not so strong in it. But we cross our fingers and hope he can do the distance of 42 km in a good time.