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LATEST NEWS: DEKKER'S B-SAMPLE POSITIVE
Road Bike Action & AFP
September 30, 2009
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(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Dekker's B-Sample Positive
The B-sample requested by Dutch cyclist Thomas Dekker has confirmed his positive drugs test for the banned blood-booster EPO, the ANP news agency reported on Wednesday. Dekker has accepted the findings and is awaiting his sanction, ANP reported. The 24-year-old Silence rider risks a four-year ban. The sample was originally taken on December 24, 2007, but new procedures introduced since then allowed for further tests which revealed a positive reading for EPO and the rider was ruled out of this year's Tour de France three days before the start in July.
World cycling's governing body the UCI said it had also taken into account elements of Dekker's blood profile in his biological passport in 2008 and 2009 to order disciplinary proceedings on suspicion of doping. It is not the first time the Dutchman, who won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in 2006 and the Tour of Lombardy in 2007, has been embroiled in controversy. In August last year it was reported that he was not selected for the Tour de France because of abnormally high blood parameters, an indication, though not proof, that blood manipulation has taken place.
 Cavendish has pulled the plug on Paris-Tours (Photo Roberto Bettini)
Cavendish Out Of Paris-Tours
British sprint sensation Mark Cavendish has pulled out of Paris-Tours, the road sprint classic on October 11, his Columbia team announced on Wednesday. Cavendish, who won six stages at this year's Tour de France, had already withdrawn from the world championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland with a lung infection. The Isle of Mann rider recently pulled out of September's Tour of Missouri after two stage wins with the same problem.
 Devolder will try for a third straight Flanders title (Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Flanders To Get ProTour Status Through 2013
The License Commission of the International Cycling Union (UCI) has granted the Tour of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race a new ProTour license for 2010-2013. The committee also decided at the French teams Cofidis and Bouygues Telecom, both members of the ProTour since its founding in 2005, would not be receiving a license. The UCI gave no further explanation of the decision, but a close source, said the exclusion of the two French teams based on their place in the World Ranking (19th and 20th for Cofidis and Bouygues).
The Italian Lampre did get a new license for the period 2010-2013, as did the German Milram team for the 2010 season. The new RadioShack team of Lance Armstrong is awaiting confirmation of their ProTour status. |
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