Michael Boogerd

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Michael Boogerd**
Personal information

Full name	Michael Boogerd
Nickname	Boogey
Date of birth	May 28, 1972
Country	The Netherlands
Team information
Current team	Rabobank cycling team
Professional team(s)
1994-1994 1995-1995 1996-present	Word Perfect cycling team Novell cycling team Rabobank cycling team
Major wins
3x Dutch National Champion 1x Paris-Nice 1x Amstel Gold Race 2 stages Tour de France

Michael Boogerd (born May 28, 1972 in The Hague) is a professional Dutch bicyclist.

He began his professional career in 1994, joining Word Perfect. In 1995 the team changed name to Novell, before Rabobank in 1996 became main sponsor and name for the team.

His speciality are classics like Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Giro Di Lombardia as well as mountain-stages. He has won two stages in Tour de France (1996, 2002) as well as the Amstel Gold Race and Paris-Nice. He has been Dutch Champion three times, in 1997, 1998 and in 2006

In the 1998 Tour de France, Boogerd finished 5th overall in the General Classification, his highest finish ever in the Tour. His main result in the 2005 Tour de France was on stage 15, where he finished 4th, 57 seconds behind stage winner, George Hincapie. In the 2006 Tour de France, Boogerd's role was to support Rabobank team leader Denis Menchov in the Alps and Pyrenees. He rode exceptionally well helping his team captain to 5th overall.

He is known for gritting his super-white teeth and he is the current Dutch National Champion.