Iljo Keisse (Quick Step) must step back to the sidelines once more as the Brussels Court of Appeal has upheld the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) to suspend him. In what looks to be the final act in a saga that has been dragging on for years, the Belgian track star will now see out the rest of his ban, and so will be eligible to return to racing on August 6th.
In a bizarre twist to a never-simple case though, because Keisse has been racing in Belgium since November, thanks to a previous Belgian court ruling, he will not be allowed to race in his homeland until January 27th, next year.
Keisse tested positive for cathine and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) after having won the Six Days of Gent back in November 2008. He was initially suspended for two years, but was cleared at the beginning of November 2009 by the disciplinary committee of the Belgian Cycling Federation. The International Cycling Union (UCI) promptly appealed to the CAS, which upheld the original suspension and, taking the 11 months that he had already served into account, set a return date for the Belgian of August this year.
In November last year though, armed with an invitation to his hometown Gent Six Days in his pocket, Keisse took his case to the Belgian Court of Appeal; the court provisionally ruled in his favour and he was able to race in Gent.
The UCI was not finished though and, despite missing the fact that he had raced in the Zurich Six Days, in its Swiss backyard, declared that the ruling only applied in Belgium; it tried and failed to stop him from racing in the Rotterdam Six Days, but since then Keisse’s racing licence has been confined to his homeland.
This latest verdict, which reverses that made in November last year, would appear to be the final act in the saga. On a note on his personal website, Keisse states that there would be a further avenue of appeal but, since there are only three months until the end of his international ban, it would not be worth his while.
The note also acknowledges that, while he will be able to ride a complete Six Days season this winter, he will not be able to ride in Gent.
Where this leaves Keisse and his current Quick Step team is not clear at this point; team boss Patrick Lefevere has been willing to believe in his rider’s innocence, but has often stated his impatience with the situation.
Whether Keisse will still be a Quick Step rider in January, or even in August, remains to be seen.