Boonen out of Amstel Gold Race

Belgium's one-day road race specialist Tom Boonen has pulled out of Sunday's Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands, according to Flemish television. Boonen, who last weekend won the Paris-Roubaix for a record-equalling fourth time to add to victories in the Ghent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders on home turf this season, has an inflammation of the foot, it reported. In the past, the 31-year-old Belgian has bypassed the Ardennes classics which follow the demanding cobblestone-heavy early-season one-day classics, and his appearance at the Amstel Gold Race would have been his maiden outing in the race. Boonen will likely be back in the peloton for the Tour of California, which kicks off on May 13.