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World record breaking 90-year-old cyclist who failed dope test employs Contador defence and accepts public warning

Carl Grove “most likely” ate contaminated meat while competing at US Masters Track National Championships

A 90-year-old cyclist who set a world record at the US Masters Track National Championships has accepted a public warning after the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) accepted that a positive dope test was “more likely than not caused by contaminated meat consumed the evening before competing.”

Carl Grove tested positive for epitrenbolone, a metabolite of the prohibited substance trenbolone, in an in-competition urine sample he provided on July 11, 2018.

The test was carried out after he won the individual pursuit in the 90-94 age group. Not entirely surprisingly, he was the sole competitor.

Grove had tested negative for banned substances after an in-competition test on July 10 after winning the time trial and it was established that the subsequent positive test was most likely due to having consumed contaminated meat in the intervening period.

In 2012, Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France and 2011 Giro d’Italia wins after he tested positive for clenbuterol during the former. The Spaniard has always maintained that contaminated meat was to blame.

While investigating the source of Grove’s positive test, it was also determined that a supplement he was using prior to July 11, 2018 was contaminated with clomiphene.

Grove provided Usada with information about supplements he had used, none of which listed clomiphene or any other prohibited substances on the Supplement Facts label.

However, detailed analysis conducted by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, confirmed the presence of clomiphene in one of them.

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7 comments

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froze | 5 years ago
2 likes

This is laughable.  If he wasn't competing against anyone then why would he take an illegal substance to perform better with?  I guess if he was racing another 90 something year old man there could be an arguement made for a case, but not for this case.  My hat is off to that 90 year old man for still being on his bike and riding hard.

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hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
2 likes

I reckon they should just relax the anti-doping rules for anyone over 70 or maybe encourage it. Let's see just how fast people can go with a quick blood transfusion before the race although we might end up with some strange vampiric race instead. Actually, maybe it'd be worth testing these ancient athletes with garlic just to make sure that they are still human.

 

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OldRidgeback replied to hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
0 likes

HawkinsPeter wrote:

I reckon they should just relax the anti-doping rules for anyone over 70 or maybe encourage it. Let's see just how fast people can go with a quick blood transfusion before the race although we might end up with some strange vampiric race instead. Actually, maybe it'd be worth testing these ancient athletes with garlic just to make sure that they are still human.

 

A bloke I race against in the 50+ BMX class here in the UK is 72. He's in better shape than most guys I work with in their 30s. I don't reckon he'd get a lot of benefit from doping.

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CygnusX1 | 5 years ago
7 likes

Chapeau, whether or not he's a doper. By age 90 most people are doped up to the eyeballs just to keep breathing.

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burtthebike | 5 years ago
5 likes

90 years old?  Must have been the Werthers Originals.

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robjordan | 5 years ago
3 likes

Quote:

The test was carried out after he won the individual pursuit in the 90-94 age group. Not entirely surprisingly, he was the sole competitor.

A truly individual pursuit!

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Yorkshire wallet | 5 years ago
5 likes

To be fair, if I was 90 and could afford it, you may as well start injecting tren. What have got to lose in reality. Any downsides would be more than balanced out by muscle maintenance. 

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