Belgian cycling star Tom Boonen has been granted a shock eleventh-hour reprieve to compete in the Tour de France which starts on Saturday, his team confirmed.
Quick Step’s former world road race champion had been barred from the Tour by organisers following a positive test for cocaine in April, but was cleared to race in a ruling given by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday.
It was his second such test in a year. Boonen also missed the Tour in 2008 because he tested positive for the drug in May last year.
”After the decision announced by the CAS on Friday, Tom Boonen will be at the start of the 2009 Tour de France,” the organisers said in a statement.
”The Tour’s management believes that, considering the great champion that Tom is, he will relish the oportunity that has been given to him and he will have an exemplary attitude during the event.”
A positive test for cocaine on April 25 caused a huge uproar in Belgium, where 2005 world champion and one-day race specialist Boonen has rock star status.
It left him facing criminal charges, the possible end of his remarkable career — not to mention his reputation suffering a huge blow.
Despite the furore, Quick Step eventually rallied behind their star rider and even threatened to sue Tour organisers if they did not allow him to race.
Cocaine, although illegal, is not considered a performance-enhancing drug and Boonen’s tests were not carried out by the sporting authorities.
Boonen appealed to the CAS and after consulting the highest sports authority in France, the French Olympic Committee, the organisers’ decision to ban him was overturned.
”We can confirm the ruling and that Tom Boonen will start the Tour de France on Saturday,” a team spokesman told AFP.
It means there will be no place on the Tour for Allan Davis, the Australian sprinter whose inclusion this year depended on the Boonen decision.
Boonen won the Tour de France’s green jersey for the points competition the last time he competed here, in 2007. He also has six stage wins from the race. — AFP
