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Like a Man Possessed PR17-5
I was disappointed to learn that this will be the last professional race for one of my favorite riders, Tom Boonen (Quickstep). Boonen has won this the "Hell of the North" four times and was clearly hoping to claim a fifth win for his final race. It was Paul Sherwen who gave me the idea for this title, as he described Boonen as a man riding like a man possessed. It seemed to fit even better with the church tower in the background. On Boonen's wheel is Bert De Backer (Sunweb) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) plus the rest of the peloton. Although by this point, just thirteen sections of pave to go, the peloton was only about forty of the nearly two hundred men who started on the outskirts of Paris.