Some riders have been extremely lucky this season, while others haven't won much. Tom Boonen's (Quick Step) season hasn't been bad, but he might have wished for some more succees in the Paris-Roubaix.

The Belgian rider won the Gent-Wevelgem and finished fourth at the Tour of Flanders, but was unlucky at the Paris-Roubaix due to mechanical problems.

"Hey, you can’t say that my start to the season has been bad," Boonen told La Dernière Heure. "I’d even say that it has been good. I still won Wevelgem and I was present at all the classics. So I can’t complain, even if luck wasn't on my side."

Boonen's season started out just fine with a stage victory at the Tour of Qatar, then he crashed a little later during the race and then fell ill at Tirreno-Adriatico. For a second it actually seemed like he wouldn't get the chance to race much in the spring.

Something that turned out to be wrong. He has surely been competitive.

“I had my share of crashes,” Boonen said. “I just need luck to be on my side a little bit.”

Some people seem to think that Boonen's career is virtually over, and that there is no chance he will win the big races again. Boonen had his heydays a few years ago, when he won almost everything worth winning.

Instead people are talking about Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) right now. And he has surely done great things in the last couple of years, but it's no surprise either that he wins a lot.

“Everybody asks me what it means not to be the Belgian number one anymore, but Philippe and I don’t really think about that kind of thing,” Boonen said. “Phil and I know one another since we were 16 years old, and there has never been a problem between us.”

“What he did this spring was really phenomenal, incredible,” Boonen said. “But in a sense, I’m not really surprised anymore, because we’ve known for a long time that he was capable of great things. He is capable of shining in the hard races with climbs, which isn't my terrain, and he is also good in the Flemish races.”