Boonen's Quick Step team has faith in former champ

ST FARGEAU, France (Reuters) - Former world champion Tom Boonen has struggled to make any impact in this year's Tour de France but his Quick Step team have backed the Belgian to come good.

Boonen, 28, failed an out-of-competition test for cocaine in April and was only cleared to compete in the Tour by a French arbitration court on the eve of the race after organizers had banned him.

While Briton Mark Cavendish has grabbed the headlines for four stage victories the Paris-Roubaix winner has been more often been spotted in pile-ups than battling out sprint finishes.

He missed a turn in the first mass finish of this Tour and also hit the canvas as the peloton tackled the final climb in the stage ending in Barcelona.

"Of course he should be on the Tour. A champion like him is essential to the race, and we also have a sponsor to think about," his Quick Step team director Wilfried Peeters told Reuters on Wednesday.

"It was very hard for him in the first week to focus on the Tour after coming so close to missing it.

"But he's a true champion and eager to fight back. He'll improve as the Tour goes along and I think his recovery starts now," Peeters said before the start of the 11th stage in Vatan.

Boonen, who has won six Tour stages in his career, did take part in the final sprint on Wednesday but came home in 16th place.

"It's not easy for Tom to challenge the best sprinter of the decade. When it's completely flat, Cavendish is unbeatable, but when it's a little bit hilly, Tom has a good chance," Peeters said.

Boonen's French team-mate Jerome Pineau also believes the 2005 world champion can still match Cavendish.

"He did not expect to be on the Tour and that's why he struggled mentally until now. But physically, he has the means to beat Cavendish and we're all mobilized to help him do it," he said.

(Editing by Justin Palmer)