Tom Boonen – “I've got the love back...”

“It was like every sprint in the Tour; it’s very hectic and the last kilometers – with the wind coming from the right – made it very hard. It was difficult to keep the pace high. Everybody was trying to pass… on the left, the right and, if they could, they would have come underneath me. On the last corner, with one kilometer to go, someone’s wheel went into my derailleur. I was in the 53x11 and my bike was making all sorts of noise and I thought, ‘Oh, it’s finished again.’ Then I stopped pedaling and the chain stayed on the bike so I started sprinting again. _ “It wasn’t possible to change gears but I won with a broken bike today. _ “The green jersey was the only objective for the day and I took every point that there was. Only, in the last intermediate sprint, Erik [Zabel] asked me not to do the sprint because it was only 40km from the finish and it takes up a lot of energy chasing those points on the road. _ “It will be a battle to keep the jersey all the way to Paris. Zabel is the toughest, oldest warrior there is and he will not surrender until we get to the finish of the Tour but I think I’m ready for it. The best thing is, I have a big gap on Robbie [McEwen] and now I only have to take care of Erik… and I think I’m a little bit faster.”