Eddy Planckaert in 1988 to do so. 2008 Boonen began 2008 by winning four stages and the overall and points classifications in the Tour of Qatar. In the Tour of Flanders, he took on a defensive role when his teammate Stijn Devolder escaped and won. A week later, he outsprinted Fabian Cancellara and Alessandro Ballan in the final 500m to win the Paris–Roubaix. On 10 June 2008, reports said Boonen was negotiating a team place for him and other riders at , a French team. Its sporting director, Jean-René Bernaudeau, confirmed the report. Wilfried Cretskens and Kevin Hulsmans were named as the others involved. Negotiations ended when Boonen tested positive for cocaine. Cocaine was not a performance-enhancing drug and Boonen faced no sanctions by the UCI or WADA. He apologized to his Quick Step manager, Patrick Lefévère at a press conference next day. Lefévère said Quick Step kept its confidence in him. But Boonen was barred from the Tour of Switzerland and the Tour de France. In February 2009 a Belgian court found him guilty of cocaine use but decided against sanctions, saying he has "been punished enough". 2009 Boonen began 2009 by winning a stage and the overall and points classifications in the Tour of Qatar. He also won Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne for the second time. In the Tour of Flanders he had to take on a defensive role when his teammate Stijn Devolder escaped and won for the second time. The following week Boonen won Paris–Roubaix for the third time in his career. On 27 April, Boonen tested positive for cocaine for the third time (the first, in November 2007, had not previously been made public). He was suspended by his team, , on 9 May. He began racing again in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. In June, he won the national championship. After initiating legal proceedings he was allowed to compete in the Tour de France, just one day before the start on 3 July 2009. He pulled out, due to illness on 18 July, before the 15th stage. He returned to racing in the Eneco Tour where he won the third stage by beating Tyler Farrar in the sprint. After that he entered the Vuelta a España to prepare for the final part of the season. There, he finished second in the prologue behind Cancellara. He crashed in the seventh stage, a 30 km time trial, losing by