In the Tour of Flanders Boonen appeared to be the strongest sprinter in the final group. However, he attacked a few kilometers from the finish to the surprise of others and stayed away. Erik Dekker said: ""I'm happy that I am near the end of my career, since with a cyclist like Boonen the spring classics will be rather boring the coming years"". In Paris–Roubaix, Boonen entered the velodrome in the leading trio, and waited until the last moment before outsprinting George Hincapie and the Spaniard, Juan Antonio Flecha.