Lars Boom  Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom (born 30 December 1985) is a professional cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing cyclist. He has also competed professionally in road racing, between 2004 and 2019. Born in Vlijmen, Netherlands, Boom has also previously competed for and their junior and continental teams over two spells with the team, as well as . Boom won the cyclo-cross world championships in 2008. He has also been the Dutch national cyclo-cross champion in his discipline from 2001 to 2012 – junior cyclo-cross champion from 2002 to 2003, under-23 champion from 2004 to 2006, and the elite champion from 2007 to 2012. During the 2005–2006 cyclocross season, Boom who just turned 20 years of age, scored several wins including a win ahead of Sven Nys in the Grand Prix Sven Nys as well as the win in the Vlaamse Druivenveldrit Overijse after Bart Wellens was disqualified for having kicked a spectator. Boom was beaten by Zdeněk Štybar in a sprint for the Under 23 World Championships but returned a year later to dominate the race and to win the Under 23 World Champion jersey. For the 2006–2007 season, Boom asked and received special dispensation to ride the Dutch Elite Cyclo Cross championships and became Champion of the Netherlands. In addition to Boom's successes in cyclo-cross, he has achieved success on the road and has won several stage races such as the Tour de Bretagne. In September 2007, Boom became Under 23 World Time Trial champion beating Russian Mikhail Ignatiev. In November 2007, Boom won the "Gerrit Schulte Trophy" as the Dutch cyclist of the year for his two World Championship wins. In the 2007–2008 Cyclo-cross season, Boom won a World Cup event in Pijnacker, a Gazet van Antwerpen event in Loenhout and then became Dutch Elite National cyclo-cross champion for the second time. After that, he also won the World Cup races in Liévin and Hoogerheide. He went into the world championships in Treviso 2008 as big favourite and did not fail, he won the race and became the second rider after Radomír Šimůnek to win the world title in all categories (Junior, Espoir and Elite). During the 2008 road season, Boom continued his progression on the road despite a successful cyclocross season. On his third day of racing on the road, he won the third stage of the Tour de Bretagne in Fréhel.