Good friend lashes out towards Boogerd critics: "They put him on the ground and cut off his head"

In conversation with Wielerrevue, Hein Vergeer lashed out at all the people who have criticized Michael Boogerd so much. The former speed skater has known Boogerd well since he participated in the Dutch TV show "Dancing with the Stars," and according to him, the former Dutch rider has been criticized too harshly after his doping confession in 2013.

Boogerd confessed to the NOS that year that he used EPO, blood transfusions, and cortisone between 1997 and 2007. The Rabobank star thus fell from grace, including his Tour de France stage victory at La Plagne in 2002. Boogerd underlined that he had not used doping continuously for ten years but often during training periods. He never wanted to mention names. "It was my responsibility, my choice. I talk for myself and not about others."

According to Vergeer, who gained success as a speed skater in the 1980s, the whole doping confession took on a life of its own. "After he had quit for some time, he became depressed. His doping confession had huge consequences for him. At a time when there was a lot of doping, he became a victim of his honesty. They put him on the ground and cut off his head."

Read more below the photo.

Michael Boogerd as a rider for Rabobank

Boogerd came back stronger 

Vergeer states that doping was customary in those years. He eventually stayed away from it, and when doping became the big, forbidden word in cycling in particular, he must have been only too happy about that. "You go through something drastic in your youth, and fifty years later, it only really hits you," is how he describes Boogerd's situation. The Dutchman eventually came back stronger and, in recent years, can consistently be seen and heard as a cycling analyst.

Doping is still far from being banned from cycling in 2024. Recently, it was revealed that a promising rider rode around with Cera in his body during the World Championships. Tadej Pogacar is also under constant pressure. Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme only fuelled that by calling the many doping questions toward the Slovenian "not unreasonable." 

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