Boonen gets greenlight to race again next month

PARIS: Former world champion Tom Boonen will take part in next month's Dauphine Libere after his Quick Step team lifted the Belgian's ban for failing an out-of-competition drugs test for cocaine.

"I rang Charly Mottet, the Dauphine Libere director, to ask him if Tom Boonen if he could participate in this race," Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevre told Reuters on Monday.

"He told me he was abiding by the UCI (International Cyling Union) rules. Tom has not doped, he has not been punished. His problem is different."