A little over a week after being forced to abandon the Tour de France, and nine days after hitting his head hard on the tarmac, Tom Boonen (Quick Step) has completed his first training ride, according to Sporza. The former Belgian and World champion left the race as his head was spinning as he rode, and it was too dangerous to continue, and has since suffered with headaches. This now seems to have cleared and he is readying himself for the later part of the season.
He reportedly rode for three hours around his home region of Belgium, near Antwerp, completing around 100km.
"He had no significant problems, and the nagging headache of last week has also gone," Quick Step spokesman Alessandro Tegner told Het Nieuwsblad. "So that’s all good news; Tom felt very tired afterwards."
After abandoning the race ast week there was no question of Boonen restarting his training, since he was still suffering from the impact of his head on the road, which broke his helmet.
"Tom certainly suffered a mild concussion,” team doctor Yvan Vanmol told Gazet van Antwerpen midweek. “He is still waking up every morning with head and neck pain. Only during the course of the day does he begin to feel better.
"He’s not ready to ride yet,” he added. “We agreed that he should go three days without symptoms before he can train again. It is difficult to predict when that will be."
Thankfully, the loss of his headache symptoms has happened sooner rather than later and the Belgian can start to prepare for the rest of the season. If everything goes to plan Boonen’s next race will be the Eneco Tour of Benelux, which starts in Amersfoort, Netherlands on August 8th.