Tom Boonen defended Lemko Evenpoel as the UCI investigates an object removed from his pocket on Il Lombardia.

Evenpoel had fallen off a bridge on the descent of Solmano and was down, when coach Davide Bramati of Dečuninck-Quick Step removed a small white object from the back of his jersey and placed it in his pocket.

Since the video evidence emerged, theories have abounded, and UCI President David Lapartient admitted that the use of illegal data transmission devices was one of the possibilities under investigation.

Dečuninck-Quick-Step later issued a statement saying that it was a "finish bottle" containing nutritional products, an explanation supported by Boonen, who rode for the team for 15 years (many of them under Bramati).

"I first heard about it on my brother's birthday on Saturday. I didn't watch the video. My father talked about it. Now I have to justify all the bottles in my pocket?" Bohnen asked in a column in Het Laatste Niuews (open in new tab).

"Everyone knows that riders eat and drink and take supplements. Like energy bottles or concentrated Red Bull. It's nothing

"Let Lemko himself give you the answer, and everything will be fine. No wonder drugs fall out of that back pocket. There are probably bottles of concentrated sugar or similar in the back pockets of all the Tour riders. I don't understand this fuss."

Boonen also commented on suggestions that the item may have contained tramadol or other banned drugs.

"Tramadol. A painkiller that can cause falls. I can attest to the fact that Patrick Lefebvre's team did not use Tramadol, on a piece of paper signed by me. As long as I was there," Boonen said.

Although he did not specifically mention what the item was, Evenpole spoke about the incident and thanked fellow rider Serge Pauwels for explaining that riders should always empty their rear pockets before being placed on a stretcher.

"I'll be honest. I was crying in my father's arms in my hospital bed this morning. I felt that bad," Even Paul said. I was fighting for my life at that moment. The team did their best for me."

Boonen, a four-time Paris-Roubaix winner and three-time Tour de Flanders winner, retired after Roubaix in 2017, but also admitted that he was seriously considering returning to racing next season until the coronavirus pandemic put a damper on his plans.

In March, Boonen told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad's weekend supplement NU that she was inspired by the comeback of tennis player and compatriot Kim Kleister.

"I started thinking, if she can make a comeback, why can't I?

On Monday, Boonen appeared on Flanders TV's Tour de France program "Vive le Vélo" and admitted that, according to Het Nieuwsblad, "concrete plans" were beginning to be formulated for a comeback in Paris-Roubaix next year.

"At that time [in March], I really didn't know if I could comeback or if I wanted to comeback. But some people said to me, 'If you're going to resume training, why don't you comeback and race for a year?'"

"I was really excited about it," he said.

"All at once the ball started rolling, and I had some concrete plans, and I was talking to some people," Boonen admitted.

"What interested me was not so much the race, but how difficult it would be to actually get back to that level. [But then the coronavirus outbreak happened and everything came to a standstill.

"I hardly ride now, but I keep fit. I had to 'reset' by taking a complete break from the sport for a few years, but doing so gives me a fresher perspective." If I had, it probably would have been Roubaix next year."

Asked if he would consider becoming team sport director instead, Boonen was less sure.

"Never say never," he said.

Last October, Boonen narrowly escaped injury when he crashed in the final of the Belcar Endurance Championship at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands.

The 40-year-old began his motor racing career soon after his retirement in 2017, winning his first race the day before the crash.