Lars Boom

Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom (born 30 December 1985) is a professional cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing cyclist from the Netherlands. He has also competed professionally in road racing, having raced between 2004 and 2019.

Born in Vlijmen, Netherlands, Boom has also previously competed for and their junior and continental teams over two spells with the team, as well as . Boom won the cyclo-cross world championships in 2008. He has also been the Dutch national cyclo-cross champion in his discipline from 2001 to 2012 – junior cyclo-cross champion from 2002 to 2003, under-23 champion from 2004 to 2006, and the elite champion from 2007 to 2012.

Career

Rabobank Continental (2003–2008)

During the 2005–2006 cyclocross season, Boom who just turned 20 years of age, scored several wins including a win ahead of Sven Nys in the Grand Prix Sven Nys as well as the win in the Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Overijse after Bart Wellens was disqualified for having kicked a spectator. Boom was beaten by Zdeněk Štybar in a sprint for the Under 23 World Championships but returned a year later to dominate the race and to win the Under 23 World Champion jersey.

For the 2006–2007 season, Boom asked and received special dispensation to ride the Dutch Elite Cyclo Cross championships and became Champion of the Netherlands. In addition to Boom's successes in cyclo-cross, he has achieved success on the road and has won several stage races such as the Tour de Bretagne. In September 2007, Boom became Under 23 World Time Trial champion beating Russian Mikhail Ignatiev. In November 2007, Boom won the ''Gerrit Schulte Trophy'' as the Dutch cyclist of the year for his two World Championship wins. In the 2007–2008 Cyclo-cross season, Boom won a World Cup event in Pijnacker, a Gazet van Antwerpen event in Loenhout and then became Dutch Elite National cyclo-cross champion for the second time. After that, he also won the World Cup races in Liévin and Hoogerheide. He went into the world championships in Treviso 2008 as big favourite and did not fail, he won the race and became the second rider after Radomír Šimůnek to win the world title in all categories (Junior, Espoir and Elite).

During the 2008 road season, Boom continued his progression on the road despite a successful cyclocross season. On his third day of racing on the road, he won the third stage of the Tour de Bretagne in Fréhel. Boom also won the sixth stage time trial. Boom then dominated the oldest stage race in the Netherlands – the Olympia's Tour. After competing in two stage races in Spain in which he won the first and won three stages in the second, Boom returned to the Netherlands where he won the Dutch national road race championships for elite riders. He would win the national time trial title several weeks later after which he announced that he intended on switching focus from cyclo-cross to road racing after the 2008/09 cyclo-cross season.

Rabobank (2009–2014)

In 2009 Boom won the Tour of Belgium after a strong performance uphill, and in the final Time Trial. In his first Vuelta a España, he was part of a break of 12 riders in the 15th stage. He rode away on the final climb and took the stage, making him the first Dutchman to win a stage in a Grand Tour since 2005.

Boom started the 2010 season by winning the Dutch national cyclocross championships. This was only his second and last cross of the season he rode. In the prologue of Paris–Nice he bested time-trial giants Jens Voigt, Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador and David Millar. During the winter of 2010–2011 Boom made a short return to cyclocross, he won the World Cup race in Zolder and won for the fifth consecutive time the Dutch national cyclocross championships. In 2011 he was again the fastest in a prologue of a World Tour event: the Critérium du Dauphiné. Later that year he won two stages and the general classification in the Tour of Britain.

Boom won the Dutch Cyclocross Championship for the sixth consecutive time in January 2012, extending his consecutive streak record.

In 2014 Boom won the fifth stage of the Tour de France, a stage marked by difficulty due to wet conditions and significant sections of cobblestones. The stage was his first win of 2014 and came nine years to the day after the previous victory by a Dutch rider ( Pieter Weening) in the Tour de France.

Astana (2015–2016)

Subsequently, Boom announced that he would be leaving Belkin and joining for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Coming into the Tour de France, Boom's notable results of the 2015 campaign were fourth in Paris–Roubaix and sixth in the Tour of Flanders. There was some controversy at the beginning of the Tour, as Boom's cortisol levels were too low in his blood per MPCC rules to participate in a cycling event, but the Astana management decided to field him anyway. Boom blamed his asthma inhaler for his low cortisol levels.

LottoNL–Jumbo (2017–2018)

After two seasons with Astana, Boom announced in August 2016 he would be joining .

In January 2018 Boom had a successful heart surgery to treat a cardiac arrhythmia. Boom returned to racing for the Paris–Nice in March.

In May 2018, Boom was expelled from the Tour of Norway for aggression against Belgian rider Preben Van Hecke. Video images showed some kind of incident where Van Hecke had to brake and Boom was upset about this. He overtook Van Hecke and punched him and attacked his helmet during the race. On 2 July, the UCI suspended him for a month, missing the Tour de France as a result.

Retirement from road racing

In December 2019, Boom announced that he was retiring from road racing after being unable to find a contract for 2020, due to his team folding at the end of the season.

He was a directeur sportif for UCI Women's World Tour team Liv Racing for the 2021 season and for in 2022.

Major results

Cyclo-cross

;2001–2002
: 1st National Junior Championships
;2002–2003
: 1st UCI World Junior Championships
: 1st National Junior Championships
: 1st Overall Junior Superprestige
::1st Sint-Michielsgestel
::1st Gavere
::1st Gieten
::1st Diegem
::1st Hoogstraten
::1st Harnes
::3rd Vorselaar
;2003–2004
: 1st National Under-23 Championships
: UCI Under-23 World Cup
::1st Koksijde
::3rd Nommay
;2004–2005
: 1st UEC European Under-23 Championships
: 1st National Under-23 Championships
: 3rd Overall Under-23 Superprestige
::1st Ruddervoorde
::2nd Hamme
::3rd Gieten
;2005–2006
: 1st National Under-23 Championships
: 1st Overijse
: Gazet van Antwerpen
::1st Baal
: UCI Under-23 World Cup
::1st Hoogerheide
: 2nd UCI World Under-23 Championships
: Superprestige
::3rd Gieten
;2006–2007
: 1st UCI World Under-23 Championships
: 1st National Championships
: UCI Under-23 World Cup
::1st Hoogerheide
::2nd Nommay
: 1st Heerlen
: Gazet van Antwerpen
::2nd Baal
: 3rd Eeklo
;2007–2008
: 1st UCI World Championships
: 1st National Championships
: UCI World Cup
::1st Pijnacker
::1st Liévin
::1st Hoogerheide
::3rd Tábor
::3rd Koksijde
::3rd Hofstade
: Gazet van Antwerpen
::1st Loenhout
::2nd Niel
::2nd Essen
::3rd Oostmalle
: 1st Mechelen
: 1st Zeddam
: 2nd Heerlen
: Superprestige
::3rd Gieten
;2008–2009
: 1st National Championships
: UCI World Cup
::1st Pijnacker
::1st Nommay
::2nd Milan
: Gazet van Antwerpen
::1st Niel
::2nd Koppenberg
: 1st Surhuisterveen
: Superprestige
::2nd Veghel-Eerde
: 2nd Overijse
: 2nd Woerden
;2009–2010
: 1st National Championships
;2010–2011
: 1st National Championships
: UCI World Cup
::1st Heusden-Zolder
: 1st Leudelange
;2011–2012
: 1st National Championships
;2012–2013
: 2nd National Championships
;2016–2017
: 2nd Surhuisterveen

UCI World Cup results

Road

;2004
: 1st Stage 2 Triptyque Ardennais
: 3rd Overall Circuit de Lorraine
;2005
: 1st Young rider classification, Triptyque des Barrages
: 1st Stage 2 Grand Prix de la Somme
: 2nd Overall Hessen-Rundfahrt
: 10th Grand Prix de la ville de Pérenchies
;2006
: 1st Overall Volta ao Distrito de Santarém
::1st Stage 3 ( ITT)
: 1st Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux
::1st Stage 2 ( ITT)
: 1st Stage 3a ( ITT) Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23
: 2nd Time trial, National Under-23 Championships
;2007
: 1st Time trial, UCI World Under-23 Championships
: 1st Time trial, National Under-23 Championships
: 1st Overall Tour de Bretagne
::1st Young rider classification
::1st Prologue & Stage 5 ( ITT)
: 1st Omloop der Kempen
: 1st Prologue Tour de Normandie
: 3rd Overall Volta ao Distrito de Santarém
: 3rd Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
: 4th Overall Olympia's Tour
::1st Prologue, Stages 4 & 6 ( ITT)
: 6th Grand Prix de la Somme
;2008
: National Championships
::1st Road race
::1st Time trial
: 1st Overall Olympia's Tour
::1st Stages 7 ( ITT) & 8
: 1st Overall Volta a Lleida
::1st Stage 8
: Circuito Montañés
::1st Stages 1, 5a ( ITT) & 7
: Tour de Bretagne
::1st Stages 3 & 6 ( ITT)
: 1st Stage 4 Vuelta Ciclista a León
;2009
: 1st Overall Tour of Belgium
: 1st Stage 15 Vuelta a España
: 7th Overall Sachsen Tour
;2010
: 1st Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
: 1st Prologue Paris–Nice
: 3rd Road race, National Championships
: 5th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
: 6th Overall Eneco Tour
;2011
: 1st Overall Tour of Britain
::1st Stages 3 & 6
: 1st Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné
: 1st Prologue Tour of Qatar
: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT) Tirreno–Adriatico
: 9th Gent–Wevelgem
: 10th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
;2012
: 1st Overall Eneco Tour
: 2nd Overall Ster ZLM Toer
::1st Stage 3
: National Championships
::2nd Road race
::2nd Time trial
: 2nd Ronde van Zeeland Seaports
: 5th Road race, UCI World Championships
: 6th Paris–Roubaix
;2013
: 1st Overall Ster ZLM Toer
::1st Stage 4
: 1st Profronde van Heerlen
: 1st Profronde van Zevenbergen
: 1st Points classification, Eneco Tour
: 1st Stage 2 ( ITT) Tour Méditerranéen
: 2nd Overall Tour du Haut Var
::1st Stage 2
: 3rd Profronde van Oostvoorne
: 4th Binche–Chimay–Binche
;2014
: 1st Stage 5 Tour de France
: 2nd Overall Eneco Tour
;2015
: 1st Stage 1 Danmark Rundt
: 4th Paris–Roubaix
: 6th Tour of Flanders
;2016
: 6th E3 Harelbeke
;2017
: 1st Overall Tour of Britain
::1st Stage 5 ( ITT)
: 4th Veenendaal–Veenendaal Classic
: 8th Overall BinckBank Tour
::1st Stage 5
;2019
: 4th Le Samyn
: 8th Clásica de Almería

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Monuments results timeline

Mountain bike

;2017
: 1st Marathon, National Championships
;2018
: 1st Beach race, UEC European Championships
: 1st Marathon, National Championships
;2019
: 2nd Marathon, National Championships

See also

* List of Dutch Olympic cyclists

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boom, Lars
1985 births
Living people
Dutch cyclo-cross cyclists
Dutch male cyclists
Dutch Vuelta a España stage winners
People from Heusden
Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists for the Netherlands
2014 Tour de France stage winners
Dutch Tour de France stage winners
UCI Cyclo-cross World Champions (men)
Dutch cycling time trial champions
UCI Road World Championships cyclists for the Netherlands
Cyclists from North Brabant