Tom Boonen has spoken at Etixx-QuickStep’s media day about the admiration he has for Bradley Wiggins ending his Sky career at Paris-Roubaix this year.

“I can only say that I really admire the guy for doing it,” Boonen said Thursday. “It shows how big Roubaix is, and how much he likes the monuments, and that he gives the value to the monuments.”

Boonen is of the opinion that more riders should follow Wiggins’ lead and ride the Monuments, as the Classics stars bother to ride their Grand Tours.

“More GC riders should ride the monuments. We ride the grand tours, so they should ride the monuments. All the big riders should be in all the big races,” Boonen continued. “Everything is so specialized in cycling these days. It’s a shame, and that’s how it goes. You cannot go back to 40 years when everybody was riding all the races, I like it more, but that’s how it is.”

Sports director of the team, Rolf Aldag, has said that Wiggins would make history if he could win the famous Cobbled Trophy in his final ever race.

“Roubaix is hate-love relationship for most riders, and Wiggins obviously loves it,” Aldag told VeloNews. “At first, it seemed a bit strange that a Tour de France winner is leaving the sport at Roubaix, but it’s his first love. If you can win Roubaix, it shows you’re a complete rider. He would be on a pretty small list, with [Bernard] Hinault, [Eddy] Merckx. He has a chance to make history.”