PARIS, (Reuters) – Former world champion Tom Boonen’s  appeal to take part in the Tour de France will be examined today, the French Court of Arbitration for Sport said yesterday.

The Belgian launched a court case against organiser Amaury  Sport Organisation (ASO) when it decided he could not start the  Tour after testing positive for cocaine, but a judge  said she  could not rule on the matter, sending it before an arbitration  panel of the French Olympic Committee on Tuesday.

“The file will be examined on Thursday and everything will  be done so that we can make a decision before the start of the  Tour,” said a spokesperson for the French Court of Arbitration  for Sport.

The 28-year-old Boonen, who won the world championship in  2005, failed an out-of-competition test for cocaine in April,  his second offence in 12 months after testing positive for the  same substance last year.

He missed last year’s Tour following his first failed test.

This year, he was suspended by his Quick Step team before  returning to racing last month.

An out-of-competition positive test for cocaine does not  carry an automatic sanction, according to the World Anti-Doping  Agency (WADA) rules.