BOONEN OUT OF TOUR

Tom Boonen quits the Tour

World Champion Tom Boonen left the Tour on Tuesday, giving up his challenge for the green jersey he so badly wanted. The Belgian had trouble with his breathing and quit the race at the feed in Serre Chevalier, 110km in to the stage.

Despite holding the maillot jaune for four stages, Boonen wasn?t on the form that he showed last year, when he crashed out of the race while in green, but was still focused on winning a stage. So far he?d had no answer to Robbie McEwen?s blistering finishes, but badly wanted to redress the balance by taking victory on the Champs Elysees, where he won in 2004.

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Simon Richardson
Magazine editor

Editor of Cycling Weekly magazine, Simon has been working at the title since 2001. He fell in love with cycling 1989 when watching the Tour de France on Channel 4, started racing in 1995 and in 2000 he spent one season racing in Belgium. During his time at CW (and Cycle Sport magazine) he has written product reviews, fitness features, pro interviews, race coverage and news. He has covered the Tour de France more times than he can remember along with two Olympic Games and many other international and UK domestic races. He became the 130-year-old magazine's 13th editor in 2015.