Tom Boonen raced 15 seasons with the Quick-Step team and became not only a legend of the sport, but a symbol of the team and Belgian racing as well. Hence, it is a surprising fact that he actually began his career at US Postal Service racing alongside Lance Armstrong, however he recalls only a bad person who was not friendly even in Boonen's departure.
“The way Armstrong has treated his friends is detestable. With his best buddy Frankie Andreu, for example. He had ratted out Armstrong, but the only thing he said is what was said in that hospital room," Boonen said in the Foto's Met Kurkdroog podcast. "Armstrong is a terrible person in that regard. He should have confessed much earlier." Boonen rode as a trainee in the 2001 season with the American team, and then turned pro in 2002 - the year of Armstrong's fourth Tour de France victory out of seven.
He left the team in 2022 and had good feedback overall, but he remembers the message that the American left to him at that time. “I sent a message to everyone around Christmas to thank them for a fantastic year. I received many nice messages back. They called me Tommie Boner. Then suddenly I got a message from Armstrong. He sent 'Good luck, you'll need it'. I was only 21 years old at the time," he reveals.
The message was a sign of something, which then became clear for the Belgian. “Lance didn't speak to me for six years after that," Boonen continues. "I was like 'f*ck you dude'. During all the races where both Armstrong and I were at the start, I would ride past him and say 'hey Lance'. He stared into space.”
The style similarities between Tom Boonen and Mathieu van der Poel are too good to ignore🕶️ The mullet in the 🌈bands, the #wittebroek and the 🟨Lambo's It's super cool that pro cycling has a rockstar back in the peloton again 😎🎸 #Mullet #LamboPoel #Tommeke #Vanderghini
