"I had to start working part time" - Shari Bossuyt continues to fight for her innocence while being forced to find a job outside cycling

Shari Bossuyt has been one of the up-and-coming names in Belgian women's cycling. The 23-year-old from Kortrijk had just come off a very brilliant 2022 on the road and was carving out considerable space for herself on the track, even, if not above all, paired with Lotte Kopecky, with whom she won the Madison world title in 2022.

2023 started well for Bossuyt, who, wearing the Canyon//SRAM jersey, had won a stage at the Tour de Normandie and had obtained a series of good results in the Northern Classics. That was when the news that completely changed her season, if not career, came about positive doping test.

Bossuyt has to start recalibrating her ambitions: "I had the dream of winning gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics together with Kopecky, but at the moment I don't even think I still have the chance to go to the Olympics. I don't believe it anymore," Bossuyt gives up.

"Furthermore, since June, as per the regulations, the team has no longer been paying me. For a few months I got by with what I had saved, but then I had to start working part time. I found a job in the marketing sector, with a fixed-term contract of 6 months," she concludes.