World champion Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) will not take part in the Vuelta a España, his team confirmed. Instead, he will ride in the Eneco Tour between August 16-23 and the Tour of Britain between August 29 and September 3. Team director Wilfried Peeters explained that Boonen's decision to ride the Vuelta last year was because he had pulled out of the Tour de France prematurely due to a crash. "This time it's different," said Peeters. "Tom has already had a hard season and normally he should ride through to Paris this time. After England [Tour of Britain] we are considering races like the GP Van Steenbergen (September 6), Paris-Brussels (September 9) to work towards the world championships in Salzburg."
