Doping in Sport - Bi-Weekly Press round-up #144
A British tennis player is banned for four years, Team Sky refuse to comment on a recent scandal and Conor McGregor jokes that drug testing pools are for 'jumping in and out'.
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Every Monday and Thursday, I send a newsletter to your inbox with the URLs to all the major doping stories in the press over the past seven days.
The Escape Collective (link) and Cyclinguptodate report that Team Ineos and Sir Dave Brailsford have refused to provide comment at the Tour de France after the Irish Independent revealed the identity of a Team Sky soigneur who was in contact with a German doping doctor in 2012 (link). Eurosport has covered the scandal (link). From 38 minutes onwards on the Cycling Podcast, you can listen to a reporter recounting his attempts to track down Brailsford this week (link).
This week, the former Team Sky rider Sir Bradley Wiggins was pictured training with Lance Armstrong, who is banned for doping for life (link). Team Sky (Ineos) still employ the ‘Service Course Manager’ Peter Verbeken (link) who was one of Armstrong’s soigneurs on the US Postal cycling team; “While there was no suggestion that Verbeken had been involved in any doping, he had worked alongside Armstrong during that first Tour” (link).
The professional Dutch cyclist Antwan Tolhoek was banned for four years after testing positive for an anabolic steroid in 2023. “He had previously raced for Jumbo-Visma from 2017 to 2021 before racing for Lidl-Trek in 2022 and 2023,” (link). You can find the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) statement here (link).
Meanwhile, the Trek-Segafredo cyclist Mads Pedersen, from Denmark, says that current riders are paying for the sins of the many cyclists who have doped in the past. “I've gotten here because of really hard work, and it hurts me and my pride when someone questions that. It’s very sensitive for those of us who are active to be compared to that time. A lot has happened in cycling since then,” (link). The current Trek team doctor is Manuel Rodriguez Alonso (link) who was implicated in doping in 2009; “In it, professional cyclist Sinkewitz, who rode for Quickstep until 2005, stated that he had received banned substances such as EPO, growth hormones, and cortisone from both doctors and had coordinated his medications with them” (link).
The professional cyclist Rick Zabel, whose father tested positive for clostebol in 1994 (link), believes that the increasing speeds of the peloton are possible without doping. “But I didn't judge my dad either. It's not like my dad or Jan Ullrich drove to a pharmacy and asked, "Do you have anything I can use to go faster?" It was a system - that's definitely something to condemn,” (link).
A former France 2 television anchor shared his thoughts on the coverage of doping during the Tour de France. “And I am very angry with the "commentators" for never saying the word ‘doping’, never, even in front of the "exploits" of Pogacar or Armstrong, in the past!” (link). Meanwhile, a Le Monde journalist shadowed doping control officers as they conducted their duties at the ongoing Tour de France; “Pascal Eeckhout, who has been officiating at the Tour de France since 2008. Every day, he and his colleagues oversee the urine tests of the stage winner and the yellow jersey” (link).
The head of the UCI Technology Fraud unit shared his opinion on the prevalence of motor doping in cycling. “Why haven't we found anything? It's either because there's nothing to find, or because we can't find it. This question haunts me. I'm here to answer it,” (link).
The former cyclist Hannes Hempel, who won the 1999 Austrian National Road Race, spoke to Kronen Zeitung about his lifetime doping ban. “That's right. CERA was the new super drug back then. I even passed it on - and that was exactly what was my downfall. A fellow cyclist, whom I had given three or four injections to, mentioned my name. Then everything started to roll. It was all over in 2009,” (link).
Bike Radar published an article titled ‘12 years after Lance Armstrong, how clean is cycling really?’. “When you inject with EPO, it stimulates the production of reticulocytes, which are new red blood cells, meaning a rider has significantly higher levels of reticulocytes than ‘normal’,” (link).
Sud Ouest France revisited the story of the former French cyclist and whistle-blower Christophe Bassons who was purportedly one of the few riders to compete ‘clean’ during cycling’s ‘EPO era’. “We have had confirmation that Christophe is the only courageous guy in the business and that cycling doesn't deserve a guy like him,” (link).
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has imposed a four-year doping ban on the British tennis player Tara Moore after a successful appeal by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). “At the time of the original ban in May 2022, the 32-year-old topped the British rankings for women’s doubles. She returned a positive test for nandrolone and boldenone,” (link). You can read the ITIA’s press release here (link). At first instance, Moore was cleared of wrongdoing after an independent panel ruled that she had tested positive for nandrolone and boldenone due to contaminated meat consumed at a tournament in Colombia (link). However at appeal, Moore was unable to explain successfully why the level of nandrolone found in her urine sample was seven times higher than the legal limit, as referenced in paragraphs 13-15 of the first instance decision (link). Conversely, Moore was able to demonstrate that her positive for boldenone, which another player also tested positive for at the same tournament, was due to meat contamination.
The two-time Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Jamie Murray says that it was a bad ‘look’ for tennis that Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek won Wimbledon, even though he believes the sport is clean. “I'm sure there will always be people that will try to bend rules and stuff but, the thing with tennis is it’s such a skilled sport. If I started taking drugs tomorrow it's not like I'm suddenly going to be number one in the world. Of course, for those guys who are already at the top, like every little gain can make a big difference,” (link). In 2019, Jamie Murray won the US Open mixed doubles title with the American player Bethanie Mattek-Sands who was once refused a therapeutic medical exemption to take the anabolic agent DHEA while working with a doctor who has helped ‘thousands of steroid-using athletes’; “Dr. Rogol said DHEA, a precursor of testosterone, should never be approved for use by a female athlete” (link).
The Daily Mail published an opinion piece titled ‘Don't celebrate these Wimbledon winners - it's a shocking look for tennis that they failed drugs tests and they never should have been there’. “Sadly for the sport, it appears more and more that tennis has given up on anti-doping,” (link). Forbes published a similar piece titled ‘Why Doping Is Still Persistent In Tennis’ (link).
The 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash publicly defended both Sinner and Swiatek claiming the substances found in their systems were not ‘performance-enhancing’. “I’m happy for him and his team. I know his coach Darren Cahill very well, he is a good mate of mine,” (link).
Meanwhile, the former Italian Olympic swimmer Federica Pellegrini says that she was pleased Sinner won the tournament even though she has faced online abuse for sharing her opinion on the player’s case (link). In 2018, Pellegrini’s boyfriend was banned for four years after doping substances were sent to him. He was cleared on appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (link).
The former French tennis player Richard Gasquet believes tennis anti-doping authorities need to operate with more transparency. “I think the case is being handled very badly. You suddenly learn, 'look, he's been tried.' During this time, nothing happened, we didn't know anything. It's not normal, it's not professional,” (link). Unlike in the cases of Sinner and Swiatek, Gasquet’s provisional suspension, following his positive cocaine test, was publicly disclosed in 2009 (link).
The Kenyan runner Felix Kirui has been banned for two years after testing positive for the corticosteroid triamcinolone. “Kirui’s marathon personal best is 2:10:45 from that May 4, 2025 Durban Marathon. His half-marathon personal best is 1:03:51, which he set in 2017,” (link) You can read the full decision here (link).
The UFC superstar Conor McGregor says he has re-entered the UFC’s drug testing pool as he prepares to return to fighting. “I’m in the pool. I thought that’s what the pools were for, jumping in and out, but I’m back in the pool. So, get ready and stay ready because damage will be done. Oval office. White House card,” (link). In 2021, McGregor received criticism when he left the drug testing pool while recovering from a leg break sustained against Dustin Poirier (link). This week, Poirier recounted an anecdotal story involving doping control officers; “They drove to the dealership. I did blood and urine at the car dealership in the office” (link).
Athletic Bilbao released a statement following the news its player Yeray Alvarez failed a doping test after the Europa League semi-final versus Manchester United. “Athletic Club wishes to express its full support for Yeray Alvarez at this time,” (link). As mentioned in Monday’s press round-up, the Athletic Bilbao footballer Carlos Gurpegui tested positive for nandrolone in 2002 while working with the controversial club doctor Sabina Padilla (link).
The boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso says he will supervise his fighters more closely following a spate of doping cases in the camp. “From now on, I’ll only work with a team I can supervise 100%. I’ve let the fighters I train bring in their own nutrition people and work teams, independent of my training structure. Now I’m going to seek guidance and build a solid nutrition team to do things better,” (link). The Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez (link and the American boxer David Benavidez again commented on the scandals inside Reynoso’s camp. “Someone should take a look at that camp and say ‘hey what are they doing in there’,” (link).
The Senegalese wrestler Siteu says he been cleared of ‘all charges’ after failing a doping test (link).
MSN published an article about the recent doping case involving the French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus titled ‘The Kissing Defense Actually Works, as Olympian Fends Off Damning Doping Suspension. “When the pair were swapping spit, apparently, she was getting more than she expected from her American boyfriend,” (link).
The Head of Intelligence at the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) was interviewed on the Anti-Doping Podcast. “In this episode, he describes USADA’s approach, tactics, and tools, for anti-doping investigations, including work in the area of cybercrime and online investigations,” (link).
Three scientific papers have been published titled ‘Advanced microscale separation and mass spectrometry approaches for next-generation anti-doping in sports’ (link), Nanostructure-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for sensitive and on-site monitoring of anabolic-androgenic steroids in food and drug products (link) and ‘Comprehensive Screening of Multiple Prohibited Substances in Chinese Traditional Patent Medicine by UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS’ (link).
Italy’s National Institute of Health has launched an anti-doping campaign called ‘Success in Sport is You’. “On this page dedicated to combating doping in sports, as part of the institutional project ‘In Sport, Success Is You’, listen to podcasts, watch video clips, and read infographics to learn more about the topic,” (link).
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