Second UCI ban for EPO replacement 'oxygen in a pill' drug

The UCI has issued only the second ever ban for a positive drug test for EPO-like performance enhancing drug FG-4592. Chilean cyclist Carlos Oyarzun was given a four-year ban following a positive test for the substance at the Pan American Games last year.

The substance, which is colloquially known as 'oxygen in a pill' shares many hallmarks with Erythropoietin (EPO) which has plagued the pro peloton for generations. 

Originally designed for the treatment of anemia - where the sufferer has a lower red blood cell count than a healthy individual - FG-4592 increases the user's red blood cell count. Just like EPO, the greater volume of red blood cells leads to a higher capacity to transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body - quite the advantage to an athlete.

That advantage may have been there to see at the Pan American Games last year where Oyarzun won the time trial event.

THe UCI issued the following statement on the positive test:

“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal has rendered its decision in the case involving Carlos Oyarzun,” a statement on the UCI’s website read. “The Anti-Doping Tribunal found the rider guilty of an anti-doping rule violation (Use of a prohibited substance) and imposed a 4-year period of ineligibility on the rider.”

FG-4592 is special in so far as it can be taken orally, rather than injected directly into the blood stream like EPO. The fact that it comes in a pill form also means that it doesn't need to be refrigerated and can be transported far more easily and far more subtly.

That obviously poses a serious issue for the UCI; an issue they addressed in August last year when they announced that all riders at the 2016 Tour de France would be screened for FG-4592.

While it does not appear at this point that any riders tested positive for the compound at this year's Tour, two riders have been banned for using FG-4592, including this week's announcement of Carlos Oyarzun's positive test.

The other banned rider was Fabio Taborre of Italian team Androni Giocattoli -Sidermec back in July 2015.

Whether this week's second positive test for FG-4592 hints that a new generation of doping is on the horizon is yet to be seen.

Despite the fact that this performance enhancing pill can be transported and stored much more subtly than EPO, the fact that the UCI can effectively test for this drug indicates that it's not going to sweep through the peloton in the same way EPO has done for generations.

Speculation as to what will be the 'next EPO' will continue to fly around. Will it be Xenon? will it be even more ingeniously hidden motors? Will it be something we've yet to hear about? Who knows.

>Xenon: the next big thing in 'legal' doping?