Tom Boonen winner of Paris-Roubaix
Finally our Belgian bicycle hero Tom Boonen has won a big classic tour namely Paris-Roubaix (260 km). That is in the Nord of France, they call it the hell of the Nord, because the roads are very bad, with cobbles. I am very happy because last week he did not win the tour of the Flanders although he was very strong. His teammate won the tour, and Tom did a lot of work for him. And now his mate worked for him. Tom won against Cancellara and Balan from Italy. Tom is very happy because the last weeks he had a terrible time from the pressure he got and the humiliations he received telling him that he could not win a race anymore. That is the price you must pay when you have been a worldchampion. Then people demand from you that you always win. But we fans, we did not doubt and always believed in him. And see we are reward for it. And now we are looking forward to the great fanday on the 27th of April. Big hughs from a happy fan. > >

Congratulations to Tom Boonen for winning the Paris-Roubaix (which is really one of the Classics of the European professional cycling calendar)! Hopefully, many other victories will follow for Tom Boonen.

That's fantastic for Boonen and the mark of a true champion is how well they come back after a defeat. Congrats to Boonen.

Tom Boonen has won again. Today he won in the tour of Belgium. I did not see him since the fanday who took place on 27 April. We were there and had a fine day with a barbecue and a lot of fun with Tom and the fans. The he went for a holliday in Italy, but he was also ill. But now he is back, our goodlooking heroe. He will participate on the tour of Switserland from 14 until 22 June and then the tour of France from 5 until 27 July. My son Tom and I will follow the tour of France every day. It will be a period of stress but we do not care. We love our Tom. :love: :love: :love:

Congratulations to Tom Boonen! Hope he will do well at the Tour of Switzerland and the Tour de France, too.

Congrats to Tom Boonen and you and your family as fans. I hope you do finally get a chance to see or meet him. I'll be trying to keep an eye on the Tour de France, also. I have to remember which channel it shows on, but I enjoy watching it. All the racing strategy is amazing.

Thanks Frances and Gaff for the congrats. Gaff I still have seen Tom Boonen on the fanday. I said a few words and I got a signature. Here is a picture of it. Gaff I am glad that you are interessed in the Tour de France. Last year Tom got the green sweater. The yellow sweater is for the winner. That was Contador last year, who also won the Giro, who ended yesterday. I do not think that Tom will win the Tour de France, because there are a lot of mountains. But if he can win a race before the mountains, then he can have the yellow sweater for that day. That is quite an honnor. We will see. Another picture of yesterday :

How nice that you had the opportunity to meet Tom Boonen, exchange a few words with him and get an autograph, Marthe!

Yes Frances that was a very fine day. I also met his parents and grandparents, very kind people. His mother is a very warm woman. Before every tour she writes in her diary on the website of Tom. She is also so worried and always prays. And when Tom wins a race, she and Tom's father are always crying. Grandmother Louise always lights two candles for him. Lovely people. :love:

Sorry I misunderstood. That's great that you got to meet him and his family. They do sound like nice people. I'll root for Tom Boonen for some stage victories and the chance to wear the yellow jersey for at least part of the Tour this year.

Gaff you are wonderful ! Let us at least hope that our Tommie Boy will win a few races there in the Tour. I will let him know in his guestbook that there are people, who lives far from little Belgium, namely our Gaff from America, who will root for him. And Gaff, nice word "root". I did not know what it was. I have looked it up. It seems to be an American word. Cool :clap: And yellow jersey, that also better. I must more practice my English, but I can only speak it here.

It's easy to forget sometimes that other people might not understand a word like "root" as it is commonly used in the U.S. It means to cheer on or support an individual or team. Of course, we use the same spelling and pronunciation for part of plants that is underground - tree roots, a beet root and the list goes on. And as far as I know they have no relation to one another. Silly, isn't it? No wonder English is hard to learn. That would be cool if you sign Tom Boonen guestbook and let him know an American is rooting for him. :mrgreen:

That's great, Marthe. Nice pictures, too! Very hot!

Nice pics of Tom Boonen! I guess I should follow cycling races more closely. :wink: