10 years of being a pro cyclist riding on a high level is already impressive. Seeing all the palmares he collected over the years and in especially this one race, that is taylor made for him, the Tour of Northern Europe", which saw a very special individuel history.
10 years! And basically Lars Boom just rode for 2 teams! Well, maybe it could be upped to 2 1/2 or maximum 3 if being very strict. One of the MG All-Time-Greats has reached the age of 33. MG experts know the difficulty at that age.
2008-2010 Virgin Media
It all started in 2008. Boom signed a contract with Virgin Media led by Smoothie. Big names around him such as Plaza, JRod, Iglinski. In the end the team finished 13th.
One year later, same team, same manager and just small changes in the squad. Todays big names Phinney and Summerhill joined as also the British sprinter Kennaugh. More quality but the jump was small. 8th in the end and this had consequences manager wise.
In 2010 rjc_43 took over and again small chances only. The Spanish/Russian core remained, Phinney, Boom as well still there, others left such as Summerhill or Kennaugh, who just had a year with the team. Again 8th and the sponsor decided to change.
More important though, the story of Lars Boom fighting for glory in the Tour of Northern Europe was born. A first step was done in the early TT, 4th and just 15s off. Later on the cobbles, Boom rode aggressively but wasn`t rewarded. He in fact lost big minutes here against the top stars on that terrain. But the aggressiveness remained. Next stage, next attempt. And it was rewarded. 2nd behind no other than todays GT star Pluchkin on a hilly stage and gaining some time back.
2nd TT day and again a 4th for him jumping into the top5 of the GC.
The decision had to be made in the final hilly stage and again Boom proved to have legs for an attack and gained on many riders and mainly lost to real experts such as Spilak or Pluchkin. GC wise he stepped up another bit to 4th passing MG legend Boonen (who actually went into that stage as leader). Ahead of him Gusev, Burghardt, Devolder. Surely riders you can lose against.
And small note. Back then Boom was young enough to win the U25 shirt ahead of Pluchkin and Spilak.
2011 Auber 93 - Look
The team changed massively in 2011, yet remained with rjc_43 as manager, hence basically the same team but all Spaniards and Russians had to leave. Instead lots of French riders moved into the team with Coppel being the big star of course. Also some Germans moved in such as Sinkewitz and Boom got some team challenge by Reus, who also joined.
Back to the TONE. Again Boom was one of the pre race favourites. Again opponents included Devolder, Boonen, Burghardt. No 2010 race winner Gusev though.
Stage 1 was basically the stage, Boom gained the 4th the year before. And hence experience here paid off and he started with a solid 4th beaten by top puncheurs Sanchez, Van Garderen, Bakelants or Vanendert and actually next to a future team mate in LLS.
The first ITT saw him taking another podium by coming in 3rd beaten by yet again Posthuma but in especially by Cancellara, another TONE expert. Though the combination of 2 strong results delivered him the first ever TONE GC lead for him.
Unfortunately the next hill stage saw him losing it again to the stronger puncheurs. In especially Cancellara, who had lost time on day 1 was stronger here and hence also moved past him. The cobbles weren`t as selective as before but Boom was inside the big first group and moved up into 3rd spot again as the puncheurs lost too much time.
The 2nd ITT had the same picture as the first. GC wise all was the same and shouldn`t change again. Hence up to 3rd in the GC and his first GC podium here.
2012 Team Rothaus - Aegon
Then we come to the year 2012. The first year of our team existence and Boom was actually one of our leaders. Next to him Vantomme, Hermans and Hesjedal.
And it was the year of a big win for him. Not only did he win 3 stages that season and also the win in the cobbled classic E3 Prijs would already big huge but wasn`t the greatest. At the end of the year he did win the World Championships in Geraardsbergen. His greatest win ever probably.
The move down to a CT team saw him not having a chance in the TONE and the story was on pause.
2012 Palmares:
Spoiler
1st, World Champion Elite Road1st, E3 Prijs
2nd overall, Volta ao Algarve
1st, Stage 5, Volta ao Algarve
1x top3, Volta ao Algarve
1x top10, Volta ao Algarve
1st, Stage 4, KBC De Panne Tour
4th overall, KBC De Panne Tour
3rd, Stage 4, Bayern Rundfahrt
9th overall, Bayern Rundfahrt
14th, Profronde van Drenthe
2nd, Stage 1, Tour de Luxembourg
6th, Criterium Hainleite
1x top10, Ras de Cymru
11th, Overall, Ras de Cymru
1x top5, Post Danmark Rundt
4th, Overall, Post Danmark Rundt
1st, Stage 1, Deutschland Tour
2 days GC, Deutschland Tour
2 days Points, Deutschland Tour
2013 Rothaus - Aegon
Next season, same role. Next to Vantomme, it was Bellis and Geschke as leaders now with him. And again no TONE...shame on me for missing that early gem here.
His main event yet again were in the continental ITT/hill combinations. Thuringen, Algarve, Czech Republic, Slovenie, Danmark, Deutschland were the big events for him.
And Boom proved to be one of the best PCT riders yet again and finished with several top5-10s in GCs as also another stage win.
Next to the TONE, the E3 Prijs became one of his favourites and while not being able to repeat the win, he finished on a strong 4th against many stronger puncheurs.
Most important this year though, the successful promotion to the Pro Tour and hence the story in the Tour of the Northern Europe could be continued.
2013 Palmares:
Spoiler
1st, TTT, Thuringen Rundfahrt
1st, Stage 3, Thuringen Rundfahrt
Top 5, Stage 6, Thuringen Rundfahrt
Top 10, Stage 7, Thuringen Rundfahrt
3rd, GC, Thuringen Rundfahrt
2nd, Stage 5, Volta ao Algarve
Top 5, Stage 4, Tour of Sochi
8th, GC, Tour of Sochi
4th, E3 Prijs
6th, Duo Differdange
Top5, Stage 1, Ostdeutschland Tour
8th, GC, Ostdeutschland Tour
Top 5, Stage 2, Tour of Czech Republic
Top 10, ITT, Tour of Czech Republic
2nd, GC, Tour of Czech Republic
Top5, ITT, Tour de Slovenie
3rd, GC, Tour de Slovenie
7th, Isle of Man ITT
2nd, Stage 3, Post Danmark Rundt
Top 10, ITT, Post Danmark Rundt
4th, GC, Post Danmark Rundt
2014 Team Rothaus - Aegon
3rd year with the team and first PT experience for the manager. Obviously a higher budget means a lot of better riders. The earlier mentioned Luis Leon Sanchez now riding with Boom as also Keizer (another team legend in the meantime), Gomez MArchante, Vanmarcke, Nizzolo or veteran Ballan.
Stepping up into the PT obviously sees not a lot of individual chances for himself as the ITT/hill races are a lot rare. Though he yet again showed his allrounder skills. Top20 on a flat race such as Qatar, on a hilly race as Tirreno Adriatico and on a cobbled classic in Gent-Wevelgem. In additional the win of the Worlds TTT with the Netherlands.
But back to the real story. The TONE, 4th and 3rd in the Virgin Media days.
As if nothing had changed in the meantime. The favourites: Boom, Burghardt, Gusev, Cancellara, Boonen, Posthuma...in addition Bewley, Van Garderen, Schumacher.
A strong start already on day 2 on the cobbles, just losing to Burghardt and Summerhill but finishing in 3rd.
The next hilly stage shows what is needed in those races. Attack, attack, attack and you might be rewarded (or not). Today it wasn`t meant to be what it could be worse than a 1-2 by his team mates LLS and Roux and himself finishing with most other favourites.
A surprisingly low 9th in the ITT but still a step up in the GC to 3rd.
The hill stage then saw again an attacking Boom and hence despite the top puncheurs he gained on both riders in front and in fact climbed up to 2nd just 18s down on Cancellara, 5s ahead of the first top puncheur Schumacher and with a short ITT this was supposed to stay in that order. So within the years Boom now made a 4-3-2 and hence next step was clear, right?
Last but not least the TTT Worlds win yet again with the Netherlands but therefore bad news as the team itself struggled too much in the PT and went down to the PCT again after just one year.
2014 Palmares:
Spoiler
17th, GC, Tour of Qatar
2nd, Stage 1, Tirreno-Adriatico
20th, GC, Tirreno-Adriatico
18th, Gent - Wevelgem
3rd, KoM, Tour de France
3rd, Stage 2, Tour of Northern Europe
2nd, GC, Tour of Northern Europe
5th, Copenhagen - Malmo TTT
1st, Worlds Championship TTT
2015 Aegon - Lavazza
2015, the first year without Rothaus as main sponsor but Aegon remained and hence the Dutch part became even bigger with just 4 Nations on total in the full squad. Relegation meant a change again, though Boom, Keizer, Vanmarcke stayed and were key for the promotion hunt in 2015, which ended with a fantastic division title as also Olivier, Groenewegen, Aru, Bazzana, Schädlich had their big events.
Boom had a stunning role in the title year. Not only another 2 stage wins to his palmares and lots of top10 GC`s as usual in the PCT races, he also claimed another cobbled classic, this time the Viana do Castelo in a great duel against the big star Summerhill.
2015 Palmares:
Spoiler
11th, Bayern Rundfahrt
7th, Tour of Ukraine
4th, KBC De Panne Tour
21st, 5 Jours de Dunkerque
1st, Viana do Castelo
3rd, Olympia`s Tour
8th, Isle of Man ITT
8th, Baltic Chain Tour
10th, Tour of Britain
21st, Giro di Lombardia
1st, Stage 4, KBC De Panne Tour
1st, Stage 1, Baltic Chain Tour
2nd, Stage 3, Tour of Britain
2016 Aegon - Lavazza
Back to the PT, back with some squad changing. Far less than last time though. Keizer, Boom remained with Olivier and Groenewegen as well being still there. In addition De Bie and Bennett as big changes as also the new star in Ben Swift.
And this core now with more full developed riders proved out nicely as the team never had any problems with the relegation area. Instead they attacked the top spots even which finished to be a top 5 year in the end. Boom surely had a key role again. Yet again showing full allround skills with the top20 in all kind of races: Qatar, Tirreno-Adriatico, East Midlands, Praha-Karlovy as also the GP Moscow.
Highlights then were the 4th in the ITT duel of the very best as also the 6th in the Tour of Tasmania, the kind of race, he used to love in the PCT division.
And with being in the PT again, he OF COURSE rode the TONE again. His opponents...Burghardt, Gusev as usual with the additions of Van Avermaet, Vanspeybrouck or Kluge.
This year the organizers decided to add a cobbled TTT and this was not ideal as the team lost more than a minute due to the lack of good cobblers.
And also the first hilly stage, where Boom finished on a good 5th was not selective and hence no gain. Even worse that the upcoming cobble stage was therefore very selective and Boom only in the 3rd peloton, 3min behind the stage winner. At that point 28th in the GC, 4'16 behind.
The ITT saw him behind a strong Festina duo as 3rd, which meant back into the top10 and actually halfed his gap to just 2'09.
The hill stage then would have needed a strong result to continue his trend of 4-3-2... but an early crash saw him going down...which is far from ideal. But with one of the hardest ever hill stage a lot of the cobblers, sprinters high in the GC struggled and Boom made it back to the pack and actually attacked out of it soon after. Huge move.
It wasn`t the stage winning move as 2 puncheurs were still ahead but coming in at 3rd and gaining 41s to the other GC riders was huge and moved him up to 3rd in the GC behind Kluge and Gusev (the rider, who won at Boom`s first appearance here). No changes on the final stage and hence while not being able to go with the trend, yet another 3rd and hence never worse than the top5!
2016 Palmares:
Spoiler
18th, Tour of Qatar
15th, Tirreno-Adriatico
4th, Chrono des Herbiers
17th, East Midlands Cicle Classic
17th, Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
18th, GP Moscow
3rd, Tour of Northern Europe
6th, Tour of Tasmania
2017 Aegon - Lavazza
6th consecutive year with the team and at 32 years of age, his last prime season. After a top5 in the PT, pressure was high and actually changes were small on the transfer market. Dekker and a developed Groenewegen mainly the changes. Not a lot else and hence hopes were high to repeat that 2016 season.
Boom had actually a lot less chances on his own surprisingly and couldn`t repeat his regular top20 of our first 2 PT seasons.
Still he did very decent with solid results in the Ronde, Praha Karlovy and yet again in the Tour of Tasmania. Also a 44th in the Giro d'Italia is all but weak including a 2nd in one of the stages.
The moment the whole team was waiting for though was the start of TONE. His last one in the prime and yet again the cobbled TTT saw him go down. 1'43 loss! Badumm and again the first half hilly stage saw almost 40 riders within the same time and hence a missed opportunity to gain back.
Comeback on the cobbles? Partly. Boom within the first peloton this time and gaining big on others including last years winner Kluge. But losing 2min on Van Avermaet. The important ITT saw him finishing 8th and up to 2nd in the GC 7s behind Bewley! The combination of cobble skills and ITT is not with many riders and might be vital this year. The hills left...
Stage 7 the decider and again the tough hill stage. Boom`s attack came with 6km out and Bewley followed. Garbage. But you don`t easily Boom in his attacks and Bewley realized this shortly after when he couldn`t follow. The bigger allround package won and in fact, Boom did just win his first ever stage in the TONE. Plus the lead in the GC! What a way to end this story of Boom`s prime years.
2017 Palmares:
Spoiler
21st, Ronde Van Vlaanderen
44th, Giro d'Italia
19th, Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha
1st, Tour of Northern Europe
8th, Tour of Tasmania
1st, Stage 7, Tour of Northern Europe
2nd, Stage 16, Giro d'Italia
2018 Aegon - Lavazza
And here we end the wall of text. Sorry for that.
2018 will be the first post prime season but the team is confident, that Boom has more to give and hence he is absolutely guaranteed to get a spot and may it for cult reasons only.
Boom has written the history of our team more than anyone else and hence will always be our key rider.
The 2018 season will only see a tiny change in the look of the Aegon - Lavazza team. The German outfitter Trigema left the team as a sponsor and is replaced by Under Armour Netherlands, which though keep the outfit from last year mainly.
Below you see the 2018 standard kit while the Dutch ITT jersey is revealed at a later point.
The renewals delivered our team a bit of a struggle and after a big GT success by Groenewegen in his first maxed season as also Swift with multiple stage wins in PT races this season plus Boom and Dekker winning a PT stage race each, the ask for money was expected.
Though for the first time ever in the team`s history, the post renewal team needs big changes as it`s above the salary cap and below the minimum rider limit.
Hence some tough decisions need to be made and hence some bigger names as usual might be available in the transfer season (yes as usual even though I tend to trade big names anyway).
Here just a short list of potential trade candidates even though it`s unlikely that more than 1-2 are leaving and a lot depends on the offers and timing during the transfer period.
Rumours were spread around already that the team is losing one of their Dutch leaders with Keizer and Dekker being named in particular which opened up for quite a bit of speculations.
Newest rumours go even further. They say, basically anyone aged 27 or older can`t be sure to have a guaranteed spot in the team! This wouldn`t only include top puncheur De Bie but also the team`s very best scorer Ben Swift!
Question remains how realistic such scenario is but it shows that basically no one is untradeble with the excemption of young leaders Groenewegen or Olivier, which are future of Dutch cycling and likely neither Lars Boom who was rumoured to get a life time contract with the squad including a connection agreement once it`s time for such move.
First of all, our long term leader Martijn Keizer, who was part of the team since the first PT season in 2014, is leaving the squad.
His biggest performances were a 10th in the Tour de France including the KoM win, 11th in the Vuelta a Espana, 4th in the Tour of California, a stage win in Colombia alongside several other top10 results in the PT, and a division lower a dominant 2014 season with the win in Andorra as also podiums in Kenya, Bulgaria, Catalunya, Vancouver.
After all those successful years, he is now leaving and likely ending in the PCT again where he is expected to be one of the top stage racers again. With young talents now maxed and having an palmares on their own now, it was needed to let him go unfortunately.
Other riders leaving the squad are Sven Nooytens, who was already loaned away last season. Due to bad management or aiming other priorities, the team was not able to get a cobbler in that can fight for top10 results and hence having a luxury domestique was not really needed. We wish him good luck in another team, which focusses on the cobbles a lot more than we do.
Also Geert Van der Sanden ist leaving. After 2 successful seasons with the team as main leadout rider for Ben Swift he is looking for new experience elsewhere.
Last but not least unfortunately also our hill specialist Davide Villella is out of the team. Similar reason as with Keizer as also a year to forget for him after a stunning 2016 season. He will look for more own success with another team in a lower division.
Now onto the riders joining! We basically have one secured so far.
It`s young Italian talent Giovanni Carboni. Already some decent support in stage races on level 2 but should be a solid addition in the years to come with maxed stats around 78/77 with a half decent TT as well. So basically our Italian support duo for the mountains with Ciccone, who joined last season.
Our squad looked rather maxed out mainly and hence we needed to add more talent to also focus on the future seasons.
And while it was smaller kind of talents in the past 1-2 seasons, we were able to get some bigger ones this year.
All three of them are eligibly for some fun in Avenir as well this year.
Nathan Van Hooydonck
23 years - 2.0 - 71,22 - 120.000 €
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Sp
Acc
Fig
Do
Prl
67
63
68
68
68
68
66
73
59
71
63
66
68
2.0
73
63
71
74
75
74
69
80
59
72
64
67
74
Max
Van Hooydonck could become our future cobble leader. Already now he is one of our best on that terrain. He nicely adds uphill skills and TT skills that might make him a future TONE winner.
Mathieu Van der Poel
23 years - 2.43 - 72,33 - 250.000 €
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Sp
Acc
Fig
Do
Prl
72
67
70
69
74
74
71
72
71
73
73
78
73
2.43
76
67
71
73
78
78
71
78
71
73
73
78
77
Max
Van der Poel will become one of the great allrounders being good everywhere. His exact training yet needs to be decided but in the example a likely scenario, which would make him another great TONE rider with a stat combination high on the paves and time trials but also with a nice kick on shorter climbs and a fast finish from a group.
Giovanni Carboni
23 years - 2.0 - 69,97 - 75.000 €
Fl
Mo
Hi
TT
Sta
Res
Rec
Cob
Sp
Acc
Fig
Do
Prl
68
71
70
66
69
68
67
62
66
64
56
70
66
2.0
69
78
77
67
72
72
73
62
66
70
63
73
67
Max
Our future super domestique for whenever it`s getting uphill. Yet another example of development only as his TT isn`t as bad to not getting something as well.
Surely a good rider for the GTs as 2nd rider behind a big leader and another fantastic Italian talent, which might form a good duo together with Ciccone in some years.
Your "van" duo is great. Congrats on that signings. Loving the look of their future stats, they should be fun. Also always a nice thing to have to think about possible training options
Yeah, right now they are developing very similar in future, hence need to consider how to handle them once maxed.
Feel I overpaid VdP a bit on FA market but therefore got the other two underpriced I think. So fair enough.
@Aquarius: Yes, but not this year, where Boom still has small chances for another high result. Regarding the future...yes, most important and fun race on the calendar. Frustrating at first, but what other race you can bounce back that big from a shit opening?
Edited by roturn on 25-07-2018 11:51
roturn wrote:
You made me struggle on VdP a lot with your latest bids.
Was hoping to have him sealed on 160k?
Yeah the price got a bit high, but the fact he could get to level 3 without being outloaned and still be useful for my team at the cobbles already this season and ofcourse develop to a very good riders was the main things I did not quit earlier
True. All 3 of them on level 2 was a bit hard in PT but still "easily" doable. In especially seeing their stats aren`t that bad already to do nothing at all indeed.
Martijn Keizer
Kristian Sbaragli
Nathan Van Hooydonck 
