Belgian amateur champion receives one-year ban

The Flemish and Belgian flags wave wildly for Tom Boonen.

The Flemish and Belgian flags wave wildly for Tom Boonen. (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

Rudy Taelman, 49, Belgian amateur champion of his age category, has been handed a one-year ban for a positive doping control for which he had asked. As an active anti-doping advocate, he had instigated the doping controls performed by the Flemish Community at the Belgian Championships of the WAOD amateur cycling federation. But after he'd won his age group event, he tested positive for Methylhexanamine.