13 July 2015

Luca Paolini vows to clarify cocaine positive

Italian rider Luca Paolini, 38, has vowed to clarify the reasons behind his positive test for cocaine, which he denies taking but has led to his provisional suspension by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and withdrawal from the Tour de France by Team Katusha. ‘Sorry, but I had to absorb the blow’, wrote Paolini in a series of posts on Twitter. ‘I believe and have always believed in controls, which are making the sport more credible. I wanted to stand in silence and solve this thing through the facts. I am not the sort of guy who yells about scandals and seeks useless loopholes. I take full responsibility and will try to clarify this […] In the coming days, I will make every effort to understand how this was possible […] I hope, through a close collaboration with the UCI, to provide more clarity on what has happened.’

Paolini reported an adverse analytical finding for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, during a 7 July in-competition test at the Tour de France, according to a 10 July UCI statement. ‘In application of the Team policy, the rider has been immediately withdrawn from the Tour de France’, read a 10 July Team Katusha statement, which confirmed that Paolini has requested analysis of his B sample. ‘Bearing in mind the anti-doping regulations, the Team will wait until the analysis of the B sample has been conducted before taking any further action, or making any further statement’. His provisional suspension by the UCI is recorded on its official list of provisional suspensions.

“I’m stunned”, Paolini (pictured, right) told Gazetta dello Sport. “I did not take cocaine, just wait for the counter-analysis”. It is understood that Paolini is understood to be the first rider to test positive during the Tour de France since Frank Schleck tested positive for banned diuretic xipamide in 2012.

https://www.sportsintegrityinitiative.com/artane-off-label-uses.

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