Michael Boogerd recounts his 1996 Tour debut: "I'll never forget Johan Bruyneel laughing his balls off as I was shaking like a leaf"

Michael Boogerd belonged among the best riders of late 90s and early 2000s with victory at Amstel Gold Race, top-5 at Tour de France and a number of other results. But back in 1996, he was still relatively unknown rider. All the more surprising was his victory in stage 6 of that year's Tour de France.

"That day I actually rode in the support of Rolf Sörensen. He said: 'You go first and if you get caught back, it's up to me.' But I wasn't caught back," he laughs.

He got rid of Melchor Mauri after the Spaniard made a steering error. "Jalabert was going to win the stage, which meant Mauri wasn't allowed to ride. I was completely crazy, of course. I thought: you can win a stage. He took over once and that was his biggest mistake."

"He shit his pants because of the slippery roads and went straight through a bend. That stage would now be cancelled, because there was thunder, hail and all the misery. They also had no image, you saw a flash every now and then."

Boogerd then told another wonderful anecdote. That year's Tour de France started in Den Bosch and Boogerd was chosen to take the Oath of FairPlay. "I had to read out a number of rules as a representative of the peloton. That we promised each other not to ride into the fences, to play the game fairly and to respect the public."

That was the only time that was done, Boogerd said. "In addition, two days before the Tour de France I had to go to the media park in Hilversum, where I received a kind of training in reading those rules. I was there for two more days to practice."

Boogerd can still remember it clearly. "I'll never forget Johan Bruyneel laughing his balls off. He could see how nervous I was, because I was shaking like a leaf before I had to go on stage. He said: 'Luckily you have to do it.' That's something that stuck with me. I can still see that bastard laughing, haha."

"Because I was really screwed, you know. I had to do that in a full room in English. The great Mart Smeets then spoke the legendary words: 'If he cycles as much as he talks, then we're going to have a great Tour de France.' Five days later I won a stage and the circle was complete."