Cycling champion Boonen suspended after positive cocaine test

BRUSSELS - Former cycling world champion Tom Boonen has been suspended by his Quick Step team and faces a criminal investigation after again testing positive for cocaine, Belgian news reports said Saturday.

The reports said that Boonen tested positive at an out-of-competition test in late April, around two weeks after April 12 winning the Paris-Roubaix Classic for the third time in his career.

The 2005 world champion Boonen first tested positive for cocaine last year.

He was excluded from the Tour de France and Tour de Suisse by race organisers but escaped additional sanctions because he did not test positive in competition.

The same will likely apply this time around but his future in the sport is still in jeopardy due to the swift ban by his team. Quick Step said they will discuss further moves with their sponsors.

A Belgian court ruled in January that the exclusion from the two races were enough punishment for Boonen. But he now faces a criminal investigation because the court had also ordered him to stay away from drugs.