The on-again-off-again career of Belgian Frank Vandenbroucke may be on again after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) annulled a six-month ban from the sport for doping offences.

Vandenbroucke had been suspended by the Belgian cycling federation following the discovery of a cache of drugs at his home at the start of the season.

The panel, to whom Vandenbroucke had appealed, annulled the ban because of a legal technicality. "... CAS came to the conclusion that the body who banned the rider in the first place did not have the legal status to do so," CAS said in a statement.

Vandenbroucke, 27, was handed the ban, and a 10,000 Swiss francs fine (6000 dollars) by the Belgian federation (RLVB) on March 21 after authorities found drugs, including Erythropoietin(EPO), the steroid Clenbuterol and morphine, at his home.

Police arrived with a search warrant after they had discovered Vandenbroucke's trainer, Bernard Sainz, known ominously in the peloton as 'Doctor Mabuse', in his car with a large quantity of amphetamines and syringes.

Vandenbroucke was immediately sacked by his Belgian team Domo despite the fact that a urine test taken shortly after the discovery showed no traces of banned products in his metabolism.

However the rider is no stranger to controversy.

In 1999 Vandenbroucke was suspended but later reinstated by his then team Cofidis after being investigated over his association with Sainz in France for an alleged doping affair.

Sainz was charged then with breaking the law relating to toxic substances and doping products and imprisoned for two months last May. A judgment on his case is still pending.

Vandenbroucke denied at the time he was a cheat, but said he may have been naive in taking homeopathic products for which he paid him 57,000 francs (9500 dollars) from Sainz.

Cofidis reinstated Vandenbroucke, who had been leading the World Cup standings at the time, when he was cleared by a judicial inquiry.

The rider, who turned professional at 19, has long been regarded as a fragile figure in the tough world of cycling where mental toughness is as important as physical prowess. When he signed for Domo last November the winner of the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic in 1999 conceded this was a make or break signing.

"If it doesn't work out I think it will be my last chance," he then said.Copyright AFP2002