Lets do away with drug addicts & doper's please. They are the one's that spoil this sport.

The sad thing is coke also acts as a mask for other things....too much too young or just overpaid, arrogant and stupid? Should have been a footnaller!!!

yet another signing for "rock" racing gerrit rock !! oh well never mind anyway tom doesn,t matter what you try mate you still aint gonna beat the manxman !

its very easy for people to sit at their computers at home to criticise those who live quite exceptional lives. No one ever takes into consideration the highs and lows this guys must go through. this occured 2 weeks after his 3rd paris roubaix win - imagin going from that remarkable sucess then slamming right back down to reality. Yes people do it all the time all over the world but not everyone can cope with such massive undulations in emotions. A similar thing happend with Michael Phelps post olympics. Most decorated olympian ever to have lived, then post beijing everyone wanted to speak to him and the buzz was at its highest. A few months later he's back to normality and what a massive come down. It can leave a very unstable person at the end of it all. Both massively dedicated athletes who have spent their lives goal setting, preparing with a goal always in mind to then be left having achieved that ultimate goal that has been focused on for so long - what do you do now.

Im not saying this is right and/or it sould be accepted. Boonen should know full well what he is doing when he decides to take part in such practices and the detriment that it can have on the sport. But we are speaking of human beings here that have as many faults and problems as every other human being on the planet. Its far too easy to say "scandalous" and slate them without actually taking into consideration the exceptional lives these athletes choose to live. We as 'mere mortals' will never be able to understand the life of such high profile athletes unless you are one yourself. Though it doesnt harm to try and understand, form your own opinions on the matter instead of regurgitating what the popular opinion is at the time.

do i start running now?

When stuff like this happens, I identify with the likes of Boonen far more than I ever could on a sporting level. Human frailty, temptation and risk are the things that make us ordinary. Extraordinary athletes are often still very ordinary human beings. I don't indulge in alcohol and other drugs very often, but when I do it's nearly always a quick decision that's against my better judgement. The consequences are rarely worth the buzz, even if I'm only considering the next morning, but that isn't always enough to stop me. It's somehow encouraging to know that even superstars have weaknesses I can relate to.

Maybe it's coincidence, but Boonen raced for years without problem until Mark Cavendish put the world on notice at last year's Giro...

You forget to mention on the Sporza tv programme Boonen said that he was drinking and he drunk to much, had a black-out and it all went on from there. He says that he goes out drinking once in a blue moon, and when he does he goes off the rails. He needs help for the Drink and the drugs IMHO.

Ademort

you mean he needs to man up and have some real self control.

I ask those quick to condemn to step back and for a moment consider this in the appropriate context.. This usage was not related to performance enhancement. Cocaine's effects are so short term that it is as a practical matter it is completely useless for bike racing. So he is NOT A CHEATER. I'm willing to bet that alcohol

was also involved yet that did not trigger a "positive". This is arbitrary and hypocritical and points to how the conflation of recreational drugs and performance enhancing drugs is political and more destructive to individuals than the use itself.

These artificial and arbitrary distinctions that some here are so quick to judge by

are false. Cocaine is a refined naturally occurring compound. Unrefined as cocoa leaves it differs very little from caffeine.

It's plainly obvious to me that when he drinks socially and to a questionable extent,

he has also taken cocoa in refined form because it's effects enhance the moment.

Not only is it questionable that this should be deemed criminal, or "immoral" but it should not be an issue for out of competition testing.

You scolding nannies should wake up and learn to think rather than react reflexively and sanctimoniously.

Been there done that!!

Life is full of temptations and life itself doesnt always make it easy to say no to these things.

Obviously he does have some kind of problem because he is a tour rider and in the limelight, but were he just some guy, his occasional use would be no problem.

to add to my previous post:

A tearful Boonen admitted Saturday: "The night before the drug test, I went out. I stayed for a while and I drank. At some stage I must have taken something. Then I had a blackout.

"I think I have a problem. After spending three to four months working, when I go out I probably over-step the mark and I become someone else.

"For 364 days a year, it's perfect. I try to be an exemplary citizen. But the day that I drink too much, something that I don't do often, I change. I will now seek help."

© AFP 2009...

THis highlights exactly what i was saying.

@ bobpzero - i fail to see how much more of a man boonen could be having won paris roubaix 3 times arguably the hardest one day event in sport. Then theres the tour that he's finished 4 times aswel. Must admit sounds like abit of a pansy now that you mention it.