Belgian cycling star Tom Boonen has been banned from competing in the Tour de France following his positive drug test for cocaine, the organizers, Amaury Sport Organization, (ASO) said on Thursday.
The 28-year-old Quick Step rider tested positive for cocaine in April, less than a year after he first tested positive for the drug in May last year.
“In the wake of Tom Boonen’s recent drug test, which followed a previous positive test in 2008, the Tour de France, having spoken to representatives from his Quick Step team, can only note that the image and the behavior of Tom Boonen are incompatible with the image of the Tour de France and the image that such an exceptional champion should try to display,” the ASO said in a statement.
“In these circumstances and in order to preserve his reputation, his image and those of the Tour de France, the ASO group has decided not to accept the presence of Tom Boonen in its event,” it said.
ASO said Boonen and Quick Step have the right to appeal to the arbitration panel of the French national sports and Olympic committee (CNOSF).
There was, however, some good news for Boonen, as the sport’s governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), announced they would be taking no disciplinary action against him for his positive test.
“Finally, the UCI management committee has decided not to institute disciplinary proceedings against Mr Tom Boonen for having allegedly taken cocaine out of competition, after the Belgian rider supplied a number of elements in his defense,” a statement from the UCI read.
The president of the Belgian Cycling Federation (LVB), Laurent De Backer, said the ASO’s decision was “regrettable.”
“Tom Boonen is accused of having taken cocaine, but outside competition,” De Backer told the news agency Belga.
“ASO is the boss of its own competition, but from a purely sporting perspective it strikes me as inconceivable to prevent a rider from taking part.
“Apparently at ASO they mix the sporting and the legal aspects of this case,” De Backer said. “Personally I expected another outcome. It’s regrettable for Belgian cycling.”
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
WORLD SERIES: ‘The individuals that were involved in that last night was a very small segment of the east Los Angeles community,’ the Los Angeles county sheriff said Rowdy crowds took to the streets of Los Angeles after the LA Dodgers won the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series, setting a city bus on fire, breaking into stores and lighting fireworks. A dozen arrests were reported by police on Thursday, but officials said that most fans celebrated peacefully. Video showed revelers throwing objects at police in downtown LA as sirens blared and officers told them to leave the area on Wednesday night after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the MLB World Series at Giants Stadium in New York. Another video showed someone standing atop
RSS