A reckless crash at the Paris-Nice forced Tom Boonen out of the spring classics, but also provided the 34-year old Belgian with an opportunity to debut in the Giro d'Italia very late in his professional career. Etixx-Quick Step rider returned to competition impressively strong in Turkey, and now claims to be ready to support Rigoberto Uran's ambitions to right for the pink jersey.

Boonen admitted he was satisfied with his performances in the Tour of Turkey, where he lined up with ambitions coming down to supporting Mark Cavendish in the sprints.

„It went as expected,” Boonen told CyclingPro.net after the final stage in Istanbul. „The level was quite high here, even though this race is pretty much a transitional period – dividing various goals for most of the riders.”

„I've been recovering from my injury for seven weeks, unable to participate in races, and the only thing you can do afterwards is doing the job for the team.”

„This is also what my job in the Giro is going to be. If any opportunity to do the sprint arises, I'm not going to miss it, but it's certainly not my main goal. 80 percent of my work will be devoted to the team, selected to support Uran in his fight for the pink jersey.”

The 34-year old Belgian arrived to Italy on Wednesday, excited ahead of his late debut in the Giro d'Italia. Boonen revealed that even though he treats the event as a part of his build up towards big objectives in June, he aims to make it all the way to Milan.

„It is the only major race in which I haven't ridden a single kilometer in my entire career. I look forward to supporting Uran in his fight for the pink jersey and I hope it will be concluded with his first victory in the grand tour event.”

„If I remain healthy, I want to finish this race. Then I will have 21 days of competition in my legs and I will be ready for tough challenges come June,” he concluded.