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Toon Aerts has delivered an announcement on social media following his suspension from competitors for 2 years by the UCI following a constructive anti-doping take a look at for the testosterone-boosting drug letrozole, with the Belgian cyclo-cross powerhouse adamant that he’ll return and show that he’s not a doper.
Aerts was initially provisionally suspended on February 16 2022, and was making an attempt to show that banned substance letrozole detected in his anti-doping take a look at was from a contaminated meals complement. Nonetheless, the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal handed down its choice final week, delivering a two-year ban as “the Tribunal thought of that Toon Aerts had failed to determine how the prohibited substance entered his physique”.
“Right here we’re. After a 12 months and a half in a authorized tug-of-war, now portrayed as a cheater,” stated Aerts in an announcement launched on social media. “Together with my total household and surrounds abruptly labelled losers. It hurts and it does not really feel proper.”
“Nicely right here UCI, a giant and heartfelt center finger! You might have made us the happiest individuals on earth…. However who’s Toon Aerts within the huge circus of biking?”
Aerts supervisor Yannick Prevost defined final 12 months that proving the contamination was like “in search of a needle in a haystack” as whereas they’d discovered a contaminated complement it was in an opened container and what they wanted for it to be legally binding was one in a closed container.
“I’m now closing this rotten interval right here in entrance of me and along with my household and entourage I’m making an attempt to quietly discover some peace and pleasure in life once more,” stated Aerts.
Aerts just isn’t alone in his state of affairs, with Canyon-SRAM rider Shari Bossuyt additionally having being notified of a constructive take a look at for Letrozole from the Tour de Normandie in France on March 19 and now awaits a last verdict from the French Agence française de lutte contre le dopage (AFLD), who carried out the take a look at.
”I solely hope that my case rings a bell with everybody, as a result of I’m already holding my coronary heart for riders and athletes who might undergo precisely the identical factor. My coronary heart is already bleeding for Shari who’s in the identical state of affairs.”
The UCI choice suspending Aerts could be appealed to the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) inside a month, however that seems unlikely with the rider – who was hardly ever off the cyclo-cross podium earlier than his suspension – now looking forward to a return when the early in 2024 when the two-year suspension involves an finish.
“And what comes subsequent from 16 February 2024? We are going to see, however I’ll positively be again,” stated Aerts. “After 4 hours of biking at 290W energy, I rode up La Redoute on Thursday at 480W common. And that with out Letrozole or any product in my physique. I’ll show it! Hopefully sooner or later we may even obtain the suitable apology….”
Closing assertion (English) pic.twitter.com/qxn7LnJgryAugust 21, 2023
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