The saga of Iljo Keisse continues. The embattled Belgian track star and budding road prospect has had his case postponed once again.
Originally, the decision on the appeal of Keisse was to be handed down on the 19th of August, but it was postponed until the 10th of September because of a document that had not been submitted to the court in time. September 10th came and went though, and the decision was pushed back another four weeks to October 8th, effectively ending the rider's season, even if his appeal to be reinstated is granted.
The saga began in November of 2008 when Keisse tested positive for two banned substances, cathine and hydrochlorothiazide, at his hometown Gent Six Day race. He was initially given a two year ban, but in November of 2009, a Belgian disciplinary committee cleared the rider due to a number of reasonable explanations from both Keisse and experts. A contract with QuickStep followed, and the Belgian was back racing again. Unfortunately, his season never got off the ground. The results on the road didn't come, then he suffered a broken collarbone while preparing for the Track World Championships, not long after recovering from that, on July 6th, the Belgian decision was overturned by the CAS, and Keisse's two year ban was back in effect. Keisse returned to his defensive position and set about appealing, but the appeals process seems to be a never ending one.
"I'm not biting my nails, I'm running up the walls. The first appeal's proceedings last only three weeks, but it has been 665 days since the test, and it has cost me 20,000 euros to bring this case to Switzerland," said the 27 year old to feltet.dk.