If there was a sprint finish somewhere, he was definitely at the front: Who is Tom Boonen?

Belgian cyclist, born in 1980. It shows great single-day performances. He is the 2005 world road cycling champion. He reached his peak by winning Paris-Roubaix in the same year. It is claimed that he is 1.91 tall and weighs 82 kilos. Even though he is a very strong rider, he does not have much chance on the slopes, so he prefers single-day activities rather than big tours.

In 2008, he vowed to break the speed records with his car this time. When he was found drunk, he lost his driver's license and was fined.

Tom Boonen (born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the U.S. Postal Service and Quick-Step Floors teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. 

He comfortably finished first in the 257km Paris-Roubaix 2012 with an average speed of 43km. 43 km/h on a bicycle means that if you are an occasional rider who loves cycling, you cannot reach this speed by pedaling on a flat road. Doing speeds close to this on stone roads means: Impossible!

Unfortunately, Tom Boonen had to withdraw from the Ardenne Classics due to inflammation in his foot. The two fittest cyclists of 2012, Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara, could not participate in the Ardenne Classics due to injury. Even though the form was not considered sufficient in 2012, it would be great for these cyclists to compete with Gilbert.

He could not compete in the spring classics due to the accident he had in the second stage of Paris-Nice 2015. This was very unfortunate for him.

He is loved more than anyone else in Belgium. He is a classicist of sprinter origin who won 4 Paris-Roubaix and 3 Rondes. He is next to Zidane with his tattoos, style, and earnings. He retired after the 2017 Paris-Roubaix race and continued to be a father to his twin daughters.

There are one-day races in the cycling community, these races are generally held around Belgium, the Netherlands, and northern France, and are run in the spring, sometimes in rain, sometimes in mud, and sometimes in the cold. There are teams where mostly Belgian athletes compete and win. Tom Boonen is an athlete of sprinter origin and has devoted his life to these races since his youth, winning races such as Paris-Roubaix 4 times, Tour of Flanders 3 times, E3 Harelbeke 5 times, Gen-Wevelgem 3 times. In the last years of his career, he tried to win the 5th Paris-Roubaix race but lost this race by inches in 2016. He said goodbye to cycling in 2017. Boonen, who is also interested in car racing, has also competed as a pilot in some motor races.

On Sunday, April 9, 2017, at the age of 36, Boonen came to the starting line for the final race of his career. Not surprisingly, this race was the cobblestone one-day classic Paris-Roubaix, which Boonen won in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2012. Seven days earlier, Boonen was in the superdomestic role as his teammate Philippe Gilbert won the Tour of Flanders; But in this edition of Paris-Roubaix, the priority was Tom Boonen.

But it didn't happen. While Boonen finished 13th, Greg van Avermaet won the race. “It was a tough day,” Boonen says with a forced smile.