Tom Boonen reveals why he needed therapy after cycling: "I had become someone I’m not—or someone I didn’t want to be”
Cycling
Tom Boonen is one of the best professional riders to have ever stepped foot in the peloton, but it has not come without a cost. At age 46 the Belgian legend is in therapy after having spent his life in the cycling bubble, a 'world that isn't real' according to his own words.
Boonen is a rider that needs little introduction, having marked generations within the sport. He turned pro in 2002 with the former US Postal Service team next to Lance Armstrong, and moved on to the Quick-Step team the following years, where he spent his entire career - all the way until 2017.
On the way he has won a world title in 2005; four editions of Paris-Roubaix; three editions of the Tour of Flanders; six Tour de France stage wins and a green jersey over his years.
The Mol native effectively took over 100 pro wins during his years as a professional, making him not only one of the best out of the 2000's and 2010's, but also an historical figure for cycling and one of the riders with the most amount of monument wins throughout his career.
Tom Boonen and his long-time rival Fabian Cancellara at Paris-Roubaix
Boonen lived in a world that wasn't real
When that finished at the 2017 Paris-Roubaix, Boonen has had to adapt to a new life, without the luxuries of being taken care of by a full team all year long. It was then that he realized a truly new phase of his life would begin. "For sixteen or seventeen years, I lived in a world that wasn't real," he said on 'Happy Hour', a show on VTM.
"You spend sixteen or seventeen years of your life in a world that isn't real—a world to which you dedicate everything, for which you do everything. But you have to recover from that. I needed some time to heal," Boonen said, revealing that he has had to go into therapy to deal with the changes in his life that have taken place since.
He also believes that the sport turned him into a different person. "I think that, because of cycling, I had become someone I’m not—or someone I didn’t want to be. I’m very happy with where I’ve ended up in my life now, but [therapy] did me a world of good".
The extremes of a professional cyclist life took a toll on Boonen
From 2002 to 2017 Boonen would experience many wins, but also many crashes, injuries and losses - including that of Wouter Weilandt, a teammate of many years at Quick-Step.
Even his final years as a pro were filled with extremes. In October 2015 he crashed at the Abu Dhabi Tour and fractured his skull. In April of 2016 he came within inches of a record-breaking fifth Paris-Roubaix win; and later that year he would finish on the podium of his final World Championships - 11 years after he had first won it, and with retirement only months ahead.
"Traumatic isn't the right word, but it’s such an extreme life of highs and lows... you’re pulled out of the real world and thrust into this cycling bubble, where everything is done for you and you become a hero to so many people..."
Boonen advocated for therapy in the show, highlighting how important it has been in his development as a person, as of late. "These are sessions lasting an hour or sometimes two; you go back fifteen, twenty, or thirty times, and eventually, you see results".
"The process is different for everyone, of course. But I would recommend it to anyone—if you’ve been through something in your life, or whatever the case may be. It really helps. It allowed me to process everything I hadn't been able to digest on my own."
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.
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- Thats only cause he rides for UAE. In any other team he would be captain in many races atleast. UAE is just to crazymiguel06-11-2026
- He seems to be the rare athlete whose passion and curiosity about life beyond his sport equals his extraordinary achievements in it. It would be great for him to risk less of that life. He seems very grateful and joyful for what he has already attained.
MarkFour06-11-2026 - As much as I admire and even revere Wout, the less I know about his backside the better.MidnightRider06-11-2026
- Ok, Walt 🤣... Vingegaard would be lucky to get on the poduim. He would not beat Seixas or Del Toro, let alone TP. Then there are the Americans...BD06-11-2026
- So, for starters. Cycling is a saturated, static/dying sport in traditional lands, it will not have resurgences like eg running occasionally does because of several obstacular (yes, I know that’s not a word but don’t make me point out the obvious at your expense) factors. Obviously, like almost everything involving money, there is a desire/need/advantage to growth and that can only come from (developing or just testing) new markets. For me, the WC is the obvious and best choice for several reasons, it comes at the end of the season so is less critical season risk wise, it is not a “pro” team race but nation based which makes integration of uncommon participation more natural. It is a vehicle for redistribution (one of a very limited number of available mechanisms to develop new markers fairly) that the fixed calendar doesn’t allow and it helps make budgets fairer over the long run (moving the whole circus to everywhere evens out everyone’s budget as opposed to having everyone always come to the same location.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- Sad that a more refreshing article like this, which could generate discussion in a number of directions, gets completely ignored for the importance of debating the level of superiority of one rider into every single last detail, including a majority of totally hypothetical ones. People complain there is no news in the off season and it’s boring but don’t realise how boring it is to review the same old discussion over and over again, several times a day. In fact, you’d almost think this was a rider fan website. Instead of complaining about the FREE (as long as you pay attention to data use if not unlimited coz this site consumes almost as much for loading Youtube) content, the presence of cv of authors (for the missed obvious reason that it makes it easier to insert extra advertising without changing formats), the lack of quality/checking and depth of articles, why not also think about the content, quality and variety of posts that everyone can contribute to? The platform becomes irrelevant when discussion is interesting.Jumpyjohn06-11-2026
- UAE Team Emirates and Pogačar will officially unveil their objectives at the team’s media day, which will take place on December 18 in Benidorm, Spain. New information from the UAE Team: Exceptional recovery remains the cornerstone of success for the Slovenian cannibal-Pogi, whose sporting manager, Matxin, believes he will be even better in 2027 than he has been over the past three seasons.PogiSloFans06-11-2026
- Yeh, but he didn't and RE beat Pog & Del T 👍
leedorney06-11-2026 - Just my opinionleedorney06-11-2026
- Great win.However will the world champions jersey be simply a domestic for the season which will some what tarnish the jersey. I hope he is given free rein to try and win some races.paultryan200206-11-2026
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