27 Quotes by Tom Boonen

Everything was fine before the final sprint. My team mates had done a great job and suddenly my chain slipped, I nearly went over and crashed.

First you have to be in a good position, then enter perfectly the last corner. Then you have to get out of the corner with enough speed. And only after that, you sprint straight away. It is going to be a very hectic and hard sprint.

The world's is the only race that matter for me. My goal here at the Vuelta is sharpen my fitness. If I win a stage, great, but the most important thing at the Vuelta is to leave stronger than I came.

The Three Days are reputed to be dangerous, it's true, but I'd rather ride than stay at home and dawdle. I could train instead of risking a crash racing, but I'd rather occupy my mind in competition.

It's OK that the others are ahead of me here. It doesn't worry me. I really didn't try in this Vuelta, ... I'm only here to prepare for the world championships. That's the only thing that matters to me right now.

It's okay that the others are ahead of me here. It doesn't worry me. I really didn't try in this Vuelta. I only came to the Vuelta to recuperate my fitness and I leave here at about 80 percent fitness. If I was here at top fitness I might not have reached the peak at the world's. At Madrid, I want to be 110 percent fitness and I didn't want to peak too early.

It's good for the team's morale and now we'll be able to sit back a bit during the rest of the week. We're not looking to win the general classification but that doesn't mean we won't be going out to win.

It's good to have won that stage because now we can relax and take it easy until the end of Paris-Nice.

The Belgian riders did everything for me, ... I didn't have to work hard until the end. At the finish, Mario Aerts gave me perfect position.