New world champion Boonen will not race again this year

Newly-crowned world road race champion Tom Boonen will not race again this year because he needs stomach surgery, his team Quick Step said. "Tom will have surgery in Herenthals Hospital in Belgium on his abdomen as a follow up to his surgery of last year.

Newly-crowned world road race champion Tom Boonen will not race again this year because he needs stomach surgery, his team Quick Step said.

"Tom will have surgery in Herenthals Hospital in Belgium on his abdomen as a follow up to his surgery of last year. He will not race again this year," team spokesman Alessandro Tegner said.

"He should be okay within a few days, but we don't want to take any chances."

The 24-year-old had an operation last October to correct a congenital disorder of his intestine.

Boonen topped a remarkable season by winning the road race at the world championship in Madrid on Sunday.

He became the first rider to be world champion and win both the Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders in the same season and is also the youngest to win the rainbow jersey since Oscar Freire in 1996.

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