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BIOGRAPHY

Tom Boonen
	BIOGRAPHY | GALLERY | GOSSIP

Tom Boonen, born on October 15, 1980 in Mol, Belgium, is a Belgian road bicycle racer and is the 2005 World Road Race Champion.

Boonen is considered a single-day road race specialist with a strong finishing sprint. His personality and looks, combined with his successes, also turned him into Belgium's main male sports idol of the mid-2000s.

2005 was the year in which Boonen firmly established himself as a competitor on the world stage. Winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, and finishing second in the Omloop "Het Volk", he stamped his authority on the cobbled Spring Classics. Boonen also became the first cyclist in history to win the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, and the World Cycling Championship in the same season.

At the end of the year Boonen won several awards: Kristallen Fiets (Crystal Bicycle), Vélo d'Or (Golden Bicycle), Trofee voor Sportverdienste (Trophy For Sporting Merit), Belgian Sportsman of the year and Belgian Sports Personality of the Year.

In 2006, Boonen again had an incredible start of the season, highlighted by winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen again.

In his 2007 season, Boonen took part in the Tour de France. In the absence of main rival Alessandro Petacchi, and an early injury of Robbie McEwen, he met the expectations by winning two stages (stages 6 and 12), and winning the Maillot vert competition. It was the first Belgian green jersey since Eddy Planckaert's in 1988.

In 2008, Boonen began the year by winning his second overall title, fifth points classification and four stages wins (14th career stage wins) at the Tour of Qatar.