Omega Pharma-Quick-Step rider Tom Boonen met with the press on Friday afternoon, two days prior to 298 km Milan-San Remo and spoke about his own winning chances, the prospects of defeating Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and his preparations for and priorities in the forthcoming spring classics.

On his condition during Paris-Nice Boonen said the race went according to plan, “Paris-Nice was what I thought it would be. I started out OK like I thought I would, and I ended up a little bit better, but it was also a really demanding race," Boonen said according to OPQS' website. "Everyone was really tired like always at Paris - Nice at the end. As for my confidence returning, it was never gone. I knew what was missing, and I think I just followed the steps that are necessary to get back on the old level again.”

When it comes to the first classic of the season, the Milan-San Remo, there are three different roads to success, according to Boonen, “You either have to be the fastest guy, or the best descender, or the best guy on the climb. Until now I've never been one of these three. I could have won it one time when I got 3rd [in 2007], but that year I really had the legs to do it, but the other times I was always in the right spot. I mean when I got 2nd [in 2010] it was just Freire that was stronger.”

Secret plan to beat Sagan

Boonen also tried to put the importance of racing Milan-San Remo into perspective for a rider targeting Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, spoke about the threats of Cannondale duo Sagan and Moser, “Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are just races that suit me better. I focus more on them, maybe that's true, but even then I think if I focused 100 percent on Milan-San Remo as I did in the past, it didn't go as well. It's a difficult race to win. I think with Sagan, it will be very hard to win this race. Still, we're thinking about a good tactic for Sunday. I don't think we can follow Moser on the climb. That's one problem. The other option is to beat Sagan in the sprint. I think we have to focus on that. But how we will do it... that's our little secret.”