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Tom Boonen stops as an analyst on VTM

In an interview in De Tijd, the former cyclist announces that he will stop as a race analyst at Het Laatste Nieuws and VTM. “When I raced, I thought the media was more honest,” he says.

‘Maybe I’ll pop in sometime Sporza of Extra Time Coursebut I’m not going to do anything fast-fast anymore,’ says Tom Boonen in a long weekend interview The time. Or maybe one day he’ll make a podcast. “But now there are no plans,” said the former cyclist who was roped in by VTM in 2018 as a cycling commentator. That year in February, for example, he commented on that channel at cycling classic Milan-San Remo. Since then, Boonen has worked exclusively as an analyst for VTM, the sister newspaper The last news and their online media. Last year in February, DPG Media, the parent company of those media brands, launched the podcast Wuyts & Boonen. Because he had reached retirement age, Michel Wuyts had to stop as a commentator at the VRT. He had just switched to DPG Media.

Less than a year after the launch of that podcast, Boonen now announces his departure from the media company. ‘At DPG Media I was asked for better quotes that could be clicked. I couldn’t be myself and I’m quitting now. If quality is no longer necessary, then it is no longer necessary for me,’ he says The time.

In that newspaper he also says that he has stopped buying the newspaper. He sounds disappointed in sports journalism. “It is an age when they should be glorified. When I raced, I thought the media was more honest. It was sometimes harsh, but people stuck to the facts. Now it’s all about clicks. I miss quality pieces.’

Boonen is also keen on cycling teams and how social media is being used these days. ‘In the past, teams needed the media, now they want them as little as possible around. They make everything themselves: documentaries, quotes, posts on Instagram. I’m glad I raced ten years ago. I never got media training and wouldn’t have been good for it.’

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