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news
GB's Simon Yates with Spain's Eloy Teruel and Russia's Kirill Sveshnikov (copyright Britishcycling.org.uk)Britain's Simon Yates tests positive for banned drug
Orica-GreenEdge have confirmed that British rider Simon Yates failed an anti-doping control at Paris-Nice last month. They say that the 23 year old was using the substance concerned, Terbutaline, to treat asthma, but the team doctor failed to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption.
The 2013 points race world champion rides for the Australian WorldTour team alongside his twin brother, Adam, who is due to start the Tour de Yorkshire on Friday.
In a statement, Orica-GreenEdge said:
On April 22, the team was notified that Simon Yates has an adverse analytical finding from a test conducted at Paris-Nice, stage 6 on March 12, 2016.
The positive result is for the substance Terbutaline.
The substance was given to Simon Yates in the form an asthma inhaler and accordingly, this was noted by the team doctor on the Doping Control Form, signed at the time of the test.
The substance was given in an ongoing treatment of Simon Yates’ documented asthma problems. However, in this case the team doctor made an administrative error by failing to apply for the TUE required for the use of this treatment.
The use of Terbutaline without a current TUE is the reason it has been flagged as an adverse analytical finding. This is solely based on a human error that the doctor in question has taken full responsibility for.
There has been no wrong-doing on Simon Yates’ part. The team takes full responsibility for this mistake and wishes to underline their support for Simon during this process.
The team is concerned by the leak of this information and has no further comments until there has been a full evaluation made of the documentation, statements and evidence that the team and Simon Yates are now submitting to the UCI in order to clarify everything.
The story was broken late on Thursday evening by the Daily Mail, which subsequently named the rider involved.
More to follow.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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39 comments
Hmmmmm? Surely the salbutamol is sublimated by the terbutaline for the average beta2agonist user at anything above 1500 metres above sea level?
Muppet Labs aside . I don't have asthma so could I ride for Orica GreenEdge?
I don't have asthma. Can I join Orica GreenEdge?
Must get my cortisone cream prescription added retrospectively first though. Little Lance joke for Friday there.
Really good news, actually. Given that it was written on the form that he'd been taking this medication, if the test had failed to pick it up that would be quite a problem!
I have a medical genetic condition that means my body does not produce sufficient erythrocytes. I need to take EPO to allow me to do my chosen job of elite cycling professional - why does WADA discriminate against me, when it allows others to take medicine for their conditions?
Re: the Guardian article referenced above. The sentence: "While EIA can occasionally bring on have very serious symptoms, sometimes athletes do not realise they have it until they are tested" should be recast as "While EIA can occasionally bring on have very serious symptoms, sometimes athletes do not realise they have it until they are told that if they bung on a cough and a bit of theatrical wheezing they will be entitled to a piece of paper that allows them to take a banned substance with impunity". Even leaving aside the fact that you might expect people who exercise more to suffer from a higher incidence of EIA than the general populace, the gap between the general populace (at a max 10% incidence - although this appears to be of asthma only, rather than EIA) and elite athletes strains the bounds of credulity. The vast majority of them are, I would imagine, Sharapovering - no one's really sure if it makes a difference but it's a banned substance, so it must be good for something. Anyway, everyone else is doing it, so I had better get me one of those TUEs and start huffing.
You don't have to work for WADA to suspect his recent ZWIFT performances on STRAVA need scrutiny.
He beat me on a Watopia segment by mere seconds. I feel cheated.
DISGUSTED.
OMG... Weight isn't on the WADA list!
Never mind the reasons for taking it, HOW IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY COULD THEY BE SO STUPID AS TO NOT GET A TUE????????
Lots of people here jumping to conclusions. It isn't helpful. Do yourselves a favour, get your pot belly onto your dentist's bike and get some exercise. It might clear your mind.
FFS.
It seems this is something he's taking regularly for his entire career. It was even noted by the doc when he was tested (before the paperwork error was realised).
And to those who seem to doubt the propertion of cyclists with Ashtma, at least half of my friends suffer from some form of Asthma to varying degrees.
I don't think we should be lynching a rider for this. There should be some type of different wording "failed test" for something like this is not the same as testing positive for EPO. The words "performance enhancing" get thrown aroudn too, EPO or blood tranfusions or whatever are not the same as a missed TUE or 5 espresso's for that matter.
There's no conspiracy, he's escaped a ban for a reason.
But, destroying careers is what the internet and media like to do.
Right then on Monday we just pretend this week never happened in British cycling -agreed? Ref the UCI providing doctors can they be trusted both at individual and organisational level?
Do these top level athletes assume we, the people without whom they'd be nothing, are idiots and will keep believing their feeble excuses about admin errors and absent-minded doctors?
Its about time someone reminded them that they are responsible for making sure any substance that enters their body is not on the banned substance list. How can Yates, in the prime of his career and with so much to lose, not take personal responsibility for checking that his 'medication' has been approved??! It really beggars belief. Why would you risk it? Unless your whole existance and reputation in the sport relies on you using the banned substances..in other words unless you've always doped..and you'd be nothing without it.
Sharopova... absolutely no excuses - she's at the very pinnacle of the sport..and she gets paid obscene amounts of money..with that comes huge responsibility. I'd take away her Wimbledon titles in a heartbeat. I'd also ban Yates.
Its the only way to clean up sport.
Of course, in the mind of trolls, one is guilty until proven innocent
I would have asthma after a Milan SanRemo (see attached, pic, if it attaches)
but as a rule of thumb, I always favour stupidity over malice
MSRFlare.jpg
When I see 200 cyclists racing for hours in clouds of dust or through an aerosol of the noxious substances that are depositied on roads I wonder how any of them escape suffering from asthma or other bronchial problems.
Oh, and I've just had an idea. Maybe instead of team doctors, paid by the team to treat team members, diagnosis of ailments that require the prescription of medication that require TUEs should be done by a UCI employed doctor, independant of the team ?
Not saying something isn't a-miss here, but
1. Asthma is widespread in the general population, and I believe exersise induced asthma is easily missed due to people just assuming that for them exersise is too hard as it gets them very out of breath, not realising that they are more than just out of breath, and so they just don't bother doing exercise instead of going to a doctor.
2. Sport is acutally good for asthmatics, as it gets them to work the muscles required to expand and contract the lungs meaning that they learn to breath properly, meaning they can cope better with asthma symptoms (I know because I have had asthma since the age of two, and my asthma improved as I got into cycling, although I often find now that the first five minutes of a ride, particular if I haven't warmed up, can bring on an initial asthma related issue, resulting in me needing my inhaler).
From this and the fact that there is seemingly a high level of asthma in sport, I would ask the following.
1. Is the amount of asthma amongst sportmen higher than the general public.
2. If yes, why? Does doing sport (and especially doing sport at higher levels) mean that the asthma is actually spotted and diagnosed in a greater number of people, is it being diagnosed too readily, or is it being used as an excuse to obtain a marginal gain?
In this case, it certainly seems that Simon isn't to blame for the failed test, and it was a doctors mistake. Whether he should be using the inhaler in the first place is another question entirely, and unfortunately even if his use is entirely genuine, plenty of people will believe otherwise.
Wouldn't it be great if someone investigated asthma and inhaler use in sport to try and answer the many questions people have, such as the ones I ask above.
Steady on there, that's a balanced argument. What will people do with their pitchforks if we keep having these level headed comments?
[/quote]
Steady on there, that's a balanced argument. What will people do with their pitchforks if we keep having these level headed comments?
[/quote]
3. As I understand within limits, asthma inhalers don't give greater breathing benefits, the more one takes. Also, non asthmatics don't gain benefits from using asthma inhalers .
Seems it will be classified as an TUE administration error, and not a failed drug test.
But, if he was found guilty, he'd be up for a lifetime ban? For drugs cheats, no exceptions or second chances are allowed.
Or,
Because he's a 'nice English lad' he doesn't deserve it?
Discuss.
See this: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/29/elite-athletes-asthma-simon...
Here we go again.
Did we ever stop?
Phew. The end of a bad week for British cycling... Breaking news! Wiggo admits to being an anti Semitic member of the super injunction threesome...
Surely this isn't a suprise to anyone? I always suspected this guy was a cheat.
Sorry to say it, but "asthmatic's" place in professional sport is on very shaky grounds in this era of marginal gains.
Nothing to see here! He's British - therefore he would never cheat! And come on, OGE are Australian - they would never cheat either! Perhaps Sheffield Uni could study Yates for 10 weeks, and then publish a paper on the risks of forgetful doctors working with asthmatic cyclists!
FWIW terbutaline needs to be re classified as they've done plenty of tests now on wether it was actually performance enhancing or not - it's not.
there is evidence suggesting that beta2agonist of, which terbutaline is one, *is* performance enhancing. This is the case for both terbutaline and salbutamol (improving sprint performance) in inhaled form (as most asthmatics would take it) as well as different modes of administration such as in tablet form with beta2agonists having a repartitioning effect.
Sorry, that is simply not right.The reason beta 2 agonists are on the prohibited list is that if given intravenously then they have an anabolic effect.
The notion that a team doctor could prescribe a prohibited drug and forget to apply for a TUE is quite laughable.
what isn't right? Can you clarify?
Actually there is evidence that inhaled terbutaline increase peak power output in certain sprint protocols (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26197029). Obviously Yates isn't much of a sprinter, and the quality of sports science research in general is laughable. But it's wrong to say that inhaled terbutaline has absolutely no effect on performance.
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