Dutchman Michael Boogerd in 2007 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Michael Boogerd has rejected Floyd Landis' insinuation that he doped, saying that bruises on his arm at the 2003 Tour de France were due to doping controls.
In an interview with Paul Kimmage, Landis said that he had a blood transfusion done during the Tour, and it resulted in a bruise on his arm. “The next day I rode alongside Michael Boogerd and he pointed to my arm. Then he pointed to his arm and he made a gesture of: I have the exact same thing."
"I think at that time half the peloton rode around with bruises,” Boogerd said on Radio 538. “That was because of the doping controls at the time. Nine out of ten times when they stuck with the needle, you got a bruise. When you walk into a hospital you can have exactly the same thing happen.”
"He did not say that I've used drugs, but he insinuates it,” Boogerd said. "He knows what he did and therefore can only assume that I did the same."
Boogerd, who retired after the 2007 season, said he did not know why Landis mentioned him. “Maybe it's because of our argument in the Tour in 2006. He showed no respect for the yellow jersey and I called him an arrogant jellyfish.”
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