Tour de France - Dekker tests positive for EPO

Eurosport - Thu, 02 Jul 17:10:00 2009

Dutchman Thomas Dekker has been ruled out of the Tour de France after a positive test for the banned blood-booster EPO.

CYCLING 2009 Thomas Dekker (Silence) - 0

"We have learnt on Wednesday morning that new tests... on samples from December 24, 2007, have proved positive for EPO," his Silence-Lotto team said on their website.

"He (Dekker) has been immediately put on a list of 'non-active' riders," said sports director Marc Sergeant.

At the time of the test, Dekker was riding for the Rabobank team.

Silence-Lotto directeur sportif Marc Sergeant confirmed that Charly Wegelius had been promoted from the stand-by list to take Dekker's place

The 31-year-old, who finished 45th in 2007, will join fellow Brits Mark Cavendish, David Millar and Bradley Wiggins on the start ramp in Monaco on Saturday.

Dekker was found guilty of a doping offence after the UCI found suspicious data in the blood samples the Dutch rider provided in 2008 and 2009 as part of the build-up of his biological passport.

Since January 2008, the UCI has collected blood samples from all professional riders to create a medical profile that would be compared with data registered in anti-doping tests.

Dekker, one of the riders who was supposed to support last year's runner-up Cadel Evans on the Tour starting from Monaco on Saturday, was replaced by Briton Charles Wegelius.

The UCI asked the Monaco federation, to which Dekker is affiliated, to open disciplinary proceedings against the 24-year-old, twice a Dutch time-trial champion, who faces a two-year ban from the sport.

"The UCI has instructed the Monegasque Cycling Federation... to open disciplinary proceedings on this matter," a UCI statement read.

"The UCI's request is based on two elements of evidence collected within the biological passport programme: Mr Dekker's haematological profile and a laboratory report indicating the detection of recombinant EPO (Dynepo) in a urine sample.

"According to a panel of scientific experts, the haematological profile established from blood samples collected from Mr Dekker in 2008 and 2009 demonstrates convincing evidence of the use of the prohibited method of enhancement of oxygen transfer," the statement added.

"The nature of Mr Dekker's haematological profile prompted the UCI to conduct a detailed review of the results of EPO analyses conducted on urine samples taken from him since the commencement of the biological passport programme."

Last month, the UCI opened disciplinary proceedings against five riders following a review of their biological passport data, warning more cases were likely to be revealed.

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Reuters

Comment 20 - 39 of 39

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  1. lets ban all the cheats, since they do tests­ retrospectively lets do life bans that way and lets­ start with david millar, he hasnt won since he stopped­ doping and has to be biggest tw4t in cycling

    From veloboy22, on Thu 2 Jul 2:49PM

  2. I have to agree that a lifetime ban from competitive­ sport is the only way to really rid the sport of the­ cheats. Sure, we would lose some big names from the­ list of riders- but it really wouldn't matter in­ the long run - at least we would know we were watching­ a cleaner sport. The UCI and other ruling bodies should­ get tough with these riders and do it now before­ another TdF turns into farce.

    But well done to­ Silence Loto for getting Charly back, he's such a­ faithful reliable climber that they were silly to leave­ him out in the first place!

    From Jon B, on Thu 2 Jul 2:47PM

  3. JUST BAN THEM FOR LIFE!!! - pure and simple - reward­ far outweighs risk at the minute..... they're­ ruining a great sport and a great event in the Tour de­ France where we should be focussing on the clean heroes­ like Cav rather than a bunch of cheating, lying,­ useless dopers who will one day ruin the sport for­ good.....

    From dunkr, on Thu 2 Jul 11:59AM

  4. If we want to stop these cheats then the punishment­ should be greater. I understand we cannot take away­ their livelyhood and ban them for life, although they­ deserve it, but surely riders who dope to win should be­ banned from ever competing for their country's­ title and for the world title. If they know they will­ never have a chance of winning the national jersey then­ maybe that could be the deterent so obviously missing­ now.

    From KGL, on Thu 2 Jul 10:06AM

  5. On Dekker, he clearly succumbed to the pressure of­ expectation, very sad. That said, the system in place­ to catch the cheats is getting better and better and­ the net is closing on the idiots. Appropriate­ punishment is a tough one. Morally, I think everyone­ deserves a second chance as circumstances behind each­ case can be very different, but seeing all these 2-year­ bans be handed out all over the place is depressing. ­ As for Evans, I think he's better placed, as I­ think Wegelius will provide much better support. ­ Indeed, isn't this why he was recruited in the­ first place.

    From pedro118118, on Thu 2 Jul 8:58AM

  6. Having Charly back is just what Cadel Evans needed!

    From Liz S, on Thu 2 Jul 8:48AM

  7. I agree with comment 30 that it`s time to draw a line­ and impose bans of at least 4 years or preferably for­ life on dopers.

    Dekker has never produced the results­ expected of him so perhaps that`s why he doped? - it`s­ no excuse.
    Don`t worry about Cadel Evans - Charly­ Wegelius will be a great domestique for him in the­ mountains - far better than Dekker would have been as­ Charly is totally unselfish at his job.

    From Bikefan, on Thu 2 Jul 6:25AM

  8. What a loser, how shall Cadel ever get to the the top­ of a mountain alone!

    From Beeroclock, on Thu 2 Jul 4:08AM

  9. Can Cadel's team get any weaker?

    From Tasus, on Thu 2 Jul 3:20AM

  10. I can't believe Dekker has been so stupid. I truely­ believed him to be a star of the future, now his career­ will always have a cloud over it and the beginning of­ the Tour starts with another drug story. What rumours­ will out about Rabobank now as he raced for them when­ the blood was taken, they started before the Giro and­ now this. Will it destroy Menchov's hopes. At least­ Charlie gets a ride now, though i thought the whole­ point of signing him was to help Evans!

    From KGL, on Thu 2 Jul 2:17AM

  11. OH NO, THE DOPING SCANDALS WILL RESUME AS THE TOUR IS­ ABOUT TO START..
    IT'S THE SAME STORY EVERY YEAR!

    From Vítor, on Thu 2 Jul 12:11AM

  12. Charlie make the best of it son.

    From iancampbell11, on Wed 1 Jul 11:24PM

  13. I cannot think of aother sport where drug testing is­ the norm rather than the exception.......I love this­ sport but riders, please, please do not fall into the­ trap as you will get caught......

    From Catherine, on Wed 1 Jul 10:26PM

  14. BY THE BY! i've always believed in second chances­ but there is a time when we have to realize that a line­ in the sand MUST now be drawn. a time line if you like.­ in the past, cycling as a sport and riders (mostly) as­ a whole doped. fact. today the­ fans/pros/mngrs/sponsors/organizers and even the uci­ want a clean sport. when did this shift in culture­ begin? i reckon the line should start circa 2007 -­ onwards?! today riders have what excuse to dope?­ ignorance? pressure to win? i cant understand why,­ except maybe that they were once good riders when­ doping and now they are average riders. point­ is..."forget" Puerto, "forget" the­ past cr*p...the temperamental "unification"­ of the uci or of different countries­ agreeing/disagreeing on procedure &/or law. lets be­ modern and more importantly lets act like adults. the­ past is certainly the past, lets choose a date &­ from this point punish the guilty appropriately &­ effectively. this should be the consequence of doping:­ 4 yrs 1st time, life, 2nd time. done. clear, easy.­ seems simple & logical to me. can i be the only one­ thinking like this. anyway... onwards & probably­ downwards our "leaders" will bumble and­ stumble forward!!! i'm not feeling that confident­ for our famous TdF, let alone 2010...

    From vindetable, on Wed 1 Jul 9:40PM

  15. what a shame, i've been waiting for thomas to­ "get over" his probs and start winning again­ for some yrs now. i've always liked dutch riders.­ down to earth, in touch and hard working. my feelings­ haven't changed because of this, just i suppose my­ wait for a win by thomas is over ...he's won a ban!

    From vindetable, on Wed 1 Jul 9:36PM

  16. It's not just the Tour that riders get caught. They­ get caught in La Vuelta too. Ask Roberto Heras. He lost­ one of his victories to a positive test.

    From tomas.americano, on Wed 1 Jul 9:33PM
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    From Michelle Lane, on Wed 1 Jul 7:54PM
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    hi there what's the problem,, when was e last time­ you punters, had a day off work with a bad head, took 4­ paracetamol,, and watched the tour,, drugged up,, but­ still able to go to work the day after,, hats new,,,bon­ courage

    From bikeriderfrance, on Wed 1 Jul 7:44PM

  19. @david.r.watson,

    He was only tested again because in­ his future tests in the beginning of 2008 there were­ some inconsistencies in his results. So, if this is not­ the case with other riders nothing will change. Big­ advantage with the biological pasport is that even if­ you cant find any dope you still can find­ inconsistencies and test in the future with new­ techniques on these inconsistencies. So even when they­ invent net dope, you will be pretty sure you will get­ caught and just like everyone else in the past (see­ Rebellin or Marion Jones) the results will be­ rewritten.

    ON: As a Dutch I was shocked to hear the­ news. Every Dutch news program started with this news,­ the impact is huge. Beside this, Rabobank declared that­ they did not new about this and this was not the reason­ for the break-up, and also not the reason why he did­ not start in the TDF of 2008

    From stam.hans, on Wed 1 Jul 7:42PM

  20. i now can see y rabobank left him out last year when at­ the time it looked like a weird decision!! get rid of­ them all. and i do believ we sudnt delve too far into­ the past as thats history but from about 2007/08­ onwards especially on riders still competing needs to­ be sorted out, and all the cheats riddled out. i also­ never want to see schumacher again he was a hideous­ cheat nd attacked on every stage, theres cheating slyly­ den ders doin a schumacher. i also believ that the­ other grand tours need to beef up there security as all­ these positive tests seem to come up in the tour, such­ as ricco, kohl, schumacher and duenas. Even sella didnt­ get caught at the giro and he was an abvious cheat as­ well. the simple message is that the cheats need to be­ banned for life i just want to see cycling wiv the­ honest competitors involved and as tyler has proven­ once a cheat always a cheat.

    From djwiners, on Wed 1 Jul 7:31PM
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