"In Romain Bardet's position, I would not have wanted it" - Michael Boogerd joins in Dutch fury at perceived slight towards Frank van den Broek at Tour de France
CyclingSunday, 30 June 2024 at 15:06
The opening stage of the 2024 Tour de France was an absolute thriller. In the end, it was a win for Romain Bardet in his final Tour de France, seeing the darling of French cycling move into the Maillot Jaune for the first time.
This win brought a smile to nearly all cycling fans faces, except that is, if you were a Dutch ex-pro apparently. After the fierce criticism of the situation by Stef Clement, Michael Boogerd has also joined in the furore, with the root of the issues being the fact Frank van den Broek, who had been in the breakaway all day, passing on the win and the Maillot Jaune to his team leader.
"Furious is a big word, but I am disappointed. Maybe a little angry. I try to put myself in Bardet's shoes. Everyone could see that Van den Broek was the best. The turns he did on the descent and on the flat were so much stronger than those of Bardet," rants the former Paris-Nice and Amstel Gold Race winner on the podcast De Kopgroep. "I wouldn't even have wanted to win if I were Bardet. That he thinks: that boy has ridden so fast and if I cross the line first, I will be an idiot. I understand the team orders. The plan was correct and it is not that Bardet received it completely as a gift, but in Bardet's position I would not have wanted it yet."
Although van den Broek was given the secondary prizes of White Jersey and Green Jersey, that does nothing to ease Boogerd's frustrations. "He will never experience that again, haha. He will miss out on 12 criteriums for 25,000 euros," the 52-year-old Dutchman answers. "Nice one, Bardet."
What do you think? Was Bardet taking the win the right call? Or should van den Broek's work have been rewarded with the Maillot Jaune?
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
May 12, 11:09
0
Popular news
Latest comments
- Almeida has been on fire all week, let's see if he can do it!awp22-06-2025
- Second in Fleche Wallone on the Mur de Huy, twice. He may just be able to beat Almeida tomorrow.RidesHills21-06-2025
- Let's go, João!!! "Bota lume" 💥💥💥Lobz7721-06-2025
- Easy, lightweight bike for the climb, aero bike for the downhill ride. They will know whether it's worth the logistic headache and time loss due to bike change.
KerisVroom21-06-2025 - Remco is not at the two's level and he will have to deal with attacks from behind. His team is useless even if it would be goodabstractengineer21-06-2025
- People have been mis-educated from K-12 schooling on a fictional idea of a two-party humanity, but that science is not reality-based. Resistance to difference in sport reveals a flawed elitist ideology based on that fiction, which erroneously informs the rules of fair play. Until the humanity standards are changed, professional sport may itself remain flawed. Chapeau to Philipa York for her efforts and for sharing her story. Can't wait to read more.itsent21-06-2025
- The understanding and management of recovery and performance physiology has advanced - even since Dumoulin.amadeusfg21-06-2025
- It would have been also interesting to find out Dumoulin's opinion in this regard about Pog doing Giro and the Tour last year, especially considering that, powerwise, Pog's best results came during the last third of the Tour.
raven21-06-2025 - Friendly = raising white flag? Wow, I never know that. /s I don't know why he complained about the way Vingo raced. That was one of the most aggressive version of Vingo. He attacked on the a sprint stage and went all out of the hilly stages, albeit not being able to beat Pogi there. How is that considered raising white flag?KerisVroom20-06-2025
- Pidcock has always come across as arrogant and not particularly smart. I’m not surprised that he, his team, and their sponsor would do something like this—and to top it off, they released the video on the anniversary of Gino’s tragic death.
UltimateOpportunist20-06-2025
The Associated Press article on the teammates cooperation was well written. Bardet was very grateful that his domestique waited and worked for him. Bardet publicly attributed the win to Frank.
It would have been a stupid mistake for a young rider to pip his French leader denying Bardet a yellow jersey. It would have been a commercial mistake too and pundits would be hollering if Frank had.
If the “stronger” rider should always win then maybe we just look at power meter data to determine the true winner. Fake controversy.
Never was a fan of Boogerd.
look up domestique and team leader. had Bardet flatted the domestique would have sacrificed his bike or wheel for Bardet. this isn’t even worth a discussion. this is how cycling works, and for that, most sport