The former Rabobank rider Michael Boogerd has been banned from cycling for two years for historical doping offences.
The Dutchman confessed to having used the banned blood booster EPO, cortisone and blood transfusions in an interview in 2013. “The period I used banned substances was from 1997 to 2007, the end of my career,” said Boogerd, who was an official with the Dutch second-tier team Roompot Oranje last season and has also worked as a commentator.
Boogerd, 43, was a specialist in the one-day classics who won the Amstel Gold race in 1999, edging Lance Armstrong into second place, and had two stage wins in the Tour de France.
The sport’s governing body, the UCI, said in a statement: “Michael Boogerd has been sanctioned with a two years’ ineligibility for the anti-doping rule violations he committed during his cycling career. The ban is effective until 21 December 2017.”
