Masters rider admitted guilt after positive A test
Two days after it was revealed that the American rider David Anthony had admitted using EPO, the US Anti-Doping Agency has handed the 45 year old a two year ban.
Anthony was first rider in the 45-49 year age group at the Grand Fondo New York on May 20th, and was tested there under the anti-doping controls paid for by the event. His A sample subsequently came back positive for the substance, and he admitted his guilt.
USADA has now announced that he will be prevented from competing until July 2014. “The use of EPO is prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic Movement Testing and the International Cycling Union (UCI) Anti-Doping Rules, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List,” it stated.
“Anthony’s two-year period of ineligibility, began on July 9, 2012 the date he accepted a provisional suspension. As a result of the violation, Anthony has been disqualified from all competitive results achieved on and subsequent to May 20, 2012, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes.”
Testing was carried out at the event after a request by the organisers, who had announced beforehand that they would be funding screening there.
Anthony and another rider were snagged as a result, with the Italian competitor Gabriele Guarini, who finished fourth overall and best in the 50-54 category, also testing positive for the substance. Gran Fondo New York CEO Ulrich Fluhme told VeloNation yesterday that the decision to become the first event of its type in the US to carry out tests was taken because of the large prize list on offer. He said that with a first prize of an $8,000 Pinarello plus a total prize fund of over $100,000, that it was necessary to take steps to ensure the Gran Fondo was as clean as possible.
He explained how the $17,000 allocated for testing was spent. “For the out of competition controls, we selected racers that raced last year and intended to race again as well as racers who were already signed up,” he said. “USADA drew the ones who then got tested out of a hat.
“As for in-competition testing, we instructed to test top five men overall, top three women overall, plus the winner of the male 40-44 and the male 45-49 categories.”
USADA CEO Travis Tygart said that the use of banned substances is not limited to top level pro competition.
“We know that the win-at-all-costs culture in sport today creates an environment where the temptation to cheat affects all levels of competition,” he stated. “We appreciate Mr. Anthony being honest and accepting responsibility for his actions.”
In the past two years, several Masters riders in the US have been handed lengthy suspensions.