Tom Boonen knew that his participation to the 2008 Tour de France was in doubt after the news of his positive test for cocaine use broke. ASO would have liked the Belgian team to decide to leave Boonen at home in July. However, the team’s different decision forced the organization to ban the winner of Paris-Roubaix from the July Grand Tour. “We had to wait for their press conference,” Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme explained. Decision makers in Paris and the Belgian rider and his team managers communicated by phone. “We wanted to hear Tom Boonen, Patrick Lefevere and Wilfried Peeters. We have told them it was not possible for Tom to ride the Tour de France this year.”
However, ASO is not considering last year’s green jersey winner as a doping cheat. “We are not confronted with a doping case,” Prudhomme said about ASO’s outlook. “He didn’t take forbidden substances in order to win races. It’s a private affair. But Boonen is a great and emblematic champion. He has to behave in an irreproachable way.”
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Quick Step team said, “The team is sorry to have not been able to meet the representatives of ASO before the decision was taken, considering that the result of the test undergone by Boonen won’t have any consequence on a professional and sporting level.”
Team New Tampa Velo Club 