Following on from his suspension from the sport, Michael Boogerd is to return to Team Roompot-Nederlandse Lotterij in the New Year, the Dutch team has announced. The 45 year-old was handed a two-year suspension in January 2016 after admitting to having used EPO, blood transfusions and cortisone during his career.
Boogerd was appointed as a Directeur Sportif of the UCI Pro Continental team in 2015 and will return to that position upon completion of his ban to work alongside Erik Breukink and Jean-Paul van Poppel.
“Of course I was watching cycling closely in the past couple of seasons,” said Boogerd. “Although watching at a distance, it seems to me that the team is great. I can’t wait to make a contribution to the development of the talented riders within Roompot Nederlandse Lotterij. We will need to continue to work and invest in the future. For the training camp in Spain, we will go there fully committed to work.”
“Someone with the knowledge and experience that Michael has, both positive and negative, linked to his passion for our sport, will be of great value to our team. The riders who worked with him in his first season as a Directeur Sportif were all very excited about ‘Boogies’ approach. And also our partners are fully behind his return,” said Team Manager Michael Zijlaard.
The presentation of Team Roompot Nederalandse Lotterij takes place on Friday 5 January at the home of the Six Days of Rotterdam in the Ahoy arena, and immediately afterwards, the team departs for a training camp in Calpe.
