After two long years away from racing, Shari Bossuyt is counting down the days until her suspension ends. On 14th June, she’ll finally be free to race again, starting her return in a Belgian kermis before heading to Copenhagen and potentially the Belgian championships. There’s even talk of a place at the Tour de France Femmes later in the summer.
Bossuyt will race for AG Insurance Soudal, where Jolien D’hoore plays a key role in guiding the team. She told Sporza that the past two years have left deep marks, but she never lost sight of her goal: returning to the pro peloton.
“I still get shivers when I think about how it happened,” Bossuyt said. “What people think doesn’t matter to me anymore. I know I never used doping, and I never will. They took something from me that I didn’t do. That’s why I couldn’t give up.”
Bossuyt tested positive following a stage win at the 2023 Tour de Normandie. Though the French anti-doping agency concluded she had not taken the banned substance intentionally, the standard two-year ban was upheld.
Not allowed to return to her previous team, she reached out to AG Insurance Soudal when she learned of Jolien D’hoore’s interest. “From the first conversation, it just clicked,” she said.
Her programme will start small, easing back into the rhythm of racing. After the kermis and Copenhagen Sprint, she’ll target the nationals and aim to prove herself fit for selection at the 2025 Tour de France Femmes.
Off the bike, the experience has taken a toll. “I don’t think I’ve been the easiest person recently, especially for the people closest to me,” Bossuyt admitted. “They’ll have noticed that I wasn’t the Shari from 2023. When you’re under so much stress, you snap at people. That’s not who I want to be.”
But things are changing. “I think the old Shari has been back for the last couple of months,” she said. “And maybe in two weeks, I’ll really be her again.”
