UCI bans Lars Boom for one month for punching rival rider at Tour of Norway

LottoNL-Jumbo rider Lars Boom will face a month out of racing after he was suspended by the UCI over an incident at the Tour of Norway in May.

Boom was disqualified from stage two of the race after video footage showed him lashing out at Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise rider Preben Van Hecke at the head of the peloton.

Video of the incident did not give much clue as to the cause of the clash, with Boom riding behind Van Hecke before the Dutchman’s right shoe came out of his pedal.

Boom then rode up alongside Van Hecke and the two appeared to exchange a few words. After this exchange Boom lashed out at the Belgian rider before riding off.

Boom apologised for his actions at the time, while his team condemned his behaviour as "unacceptable" and promised that he would face internal disciplinary procedures

LottoNL-Jumbo announced that their rider would be suspended for a month (July 2 to August 2), meaning that he will miss the GP Cerami and Prudential RideLondon. Boom had also been the team's reserve rider for the Tour de France, but will now cannot be called upon if one of the team's initial selections is unable to start.

The team has not yet announced when Boom will return to action, although the BinckBank Tour, Tour de Pologne, or Vuelta a España could all yet feature in the 32-year-old's race calendar for the rest of the year.

This isn’t the first time that Boom has found himself at the centre of controversy for his action in a race. In 2017, Boom celebrated winning a stage of the BinckBank Tour with an obscene gesture as he crossed the line in a message to his team management for not selection him for the Vuelta a España.