Astarloza positive EPO test confirmed

Eurosport - Tue, 08 Sep 23:23:00 2009

Spaniard Mikel Astarloza, who finished 11th in this year's Tour de France, has had a positive test for the banned blood booster EPO confirmed.

CYCLING mikel astarloza / foto imago - 0

Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Astarloza, 29, who won the 16th stage of the Tour, was provisionally suspended on July 31 for a positive out-of-competition test on his A sample. He faces a two-year ban.

"Euskaltel-Euskadi communicates that Mikel Astarloza has received today the result of testing on the B sample from the anti-doping control carried out on June 26th 2009, and the result is non-negative," said a statement on the team's website.

"The team is not surprised at this result, given it was leaked a few days back to the media, and we were prepared to face this. As has been the case since the announcement of the non-negative of the A sample on July, 31st, the team trusts in the rider's innocence."

"We have placed this affair in the hands of our lawyers to prove he is innocent."

Astarloza won the Tour Down Under in 2003 and finished ninth overall in last year's Tour de France.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 9 of 9

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  1. Duh!!! Mikel never won d*ck as a professional cyclist.­ So the year he wins a stage in the tour, guess what? ­ Doped!!!!!

    From Chris, on Wed 9 Sep 7:31PM

  2. LET ME GUESS. HE WILL COME BACK IN THE VUELTA 2011, AND­ THEN TRY TO BEAT HIS FORMER DOPED MATES LIKE WE SEE IN­ THIS YEAR'S VUELTA

    From Vítor, on Wed 9 Sep 3:14PM

  3. And to recall how Astarloza banged his fist on the­ table during a press conference in August as he­ protested his innocence, fans all supporting him, a­ local kids cycling team clapping beside him...
    '
    So­ his prize money (e.g. his stage win) pays for a lawyer­ to battle with a drug authority's lawyer, thereby­ weakening the authority themselves.
    How very screwed­ up.

    From p, on Wed 9 Sep 10:38AM

  4. This is the first time for a while I can think of a­ team getting behind a positive rider - they're­ usually quick to dump and move on. This one could run­ and run.

    I was quite surprised when he pipped wiggo in­ the Giro and then his Tour performance seemed­ excellent.

    What annoys me, is that whenever someone­ comes from nowhere or seems to be having "a good­ day" following "a bad day", I don't­ want to be constantly thinking about doping. I want a­ sport where there ARE surprises and ups and downs. Not­ one full of diesel engines.

    From Sara Simon, on Wed 9 Sep 9:30AM

  5. I take it that the same rule with English still applies­ today as when I was in school... A double negative is a­ positive so a "Non Negative" equates to a­ "Positive"... This is all lawyer speak BS!­

    Let him now pay for the cost of those tests, any­ other tests he wants to try and prove his innocence­ with and the cost of the hearing about a possible 2­ year ban... HIT these people in the pocket and see how­ much they want to protect their­ "innocence"!

    See you in 2 years maybe...

    From obriendonal, on Wed 9 Sep 9:10AM

  6. Since when does doping mean "non-negative",­ what kind of double speak is that. He tested positive­ for EOP period, You're out of here, period.
    As for­ his team management, what kind of denial is this to­ think that their lawyer (who is going to make a lot of­ money no matter what the outcome is) can get this poor­ cheat out of the hole he's dug himself into!!!!!!!

    From j.roxane1, on Wed 9 Sep 2:44AM

  7. finnally ...what taked so muck to confirm..he s death­ and gone..out of the cycling picture

    From seby_pricop, on Tue 8 Sep 11:47PM

  8. nothing new
    bye bye Astarloza

    From Bobcha, on Tue 8 Sep 11:39PM

  9. @#$%

    From NIGEL P, on Tue 8 Sep 10:03PM
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