Tom Boonen on van Aert, Pogacar, and his favourite for Flanders and Roubaix Mathieu van der Poel: "He gained a mental advantage over Tadej"
Cycling
The spring classics are running at full speed currently, with Milano-Sanremo kicking off an extraordinary and epic race day. Now we switch our full attention to the cobbled classics where Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert will take turns headlining most of the big events. Classics legend and multiple monument winner Tom Boonen shares his thoughts days before the E3 Saxo Classic.
“At the moment, Van der Poel is my favourite. Mathieu van der Poel was impressive in Sanremo,” Boonen told Het Laatste Nieuws. “The way he responded to Pogacar on the Poggio, while everyone thought ‘stay put’, was really impressive. He gained a mental advantage over Tadej there. At the moment, Van der Poel is my favourite for the E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.”
Boonen is straight with his opinion that the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider will be very hard to beat over the coming weeks, as he continues to show stellar form, avoiding injuries and illnesses, and having once again perfect timing for his form.
With multiple Flanders and Roubaix titles in his palmarès already, pressure won't be as high as his rivals, and his Sanremo triumph will help further. Physically he seems to have a slight upper hand on his rivals, but mentally this applies as well.
“I also think that Pogacar was not at his very best in Sanremo. That fall in the Strade Bianche left some traces and that cost him some energy," Boonen wonders. "The question is whether Sanremo was a dip and whether he will get better or worse this week.”
On Wout van Aert, who hasn't been racing lately, but taking on an altitude camp ahead of his major goals, Boonen has questions: “I never went on an altitude training camp during the spring, but I think Wout knows himself well enough and knows what is the best solution for him at this moment in his career".
However his presence at E3 is a sign of confidence, and a set plan for early in the year: "It's a very difficult and complex race, you have to fight a lot and then you need the feeling. I would never have taken the risk of not racing for that, because I wouldn't have felt comfortable with that. I preferred to have the competition close by, so that I could keep a close eye on them."
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment