Toon Aerts has delivered an announcement on social media following his suspension from competitors for 2 years by the UCI following a optimistic 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. Nevertheless, 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 ascertain 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,” mentioned Aerts in an announcement launched on social media. “Together with my total household and surrounds all of a sudden labelled losers. It hurts and it would not really feel proper.”
“Properly right here UCI, a giant and heartfelt center finger! You could possibly have made us the happiest folks on earth…. However who’s Toon Aerts within the large 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 that they had 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,” mentioned Aerts.
Aerts is just not alone in his scenario, with Canyon-SRAM rider Shari Bossuyt additionally having being notified of a optimistic take a look at for Letrozole from the Tour de Normandie in France on March 19 and now awaits a closing 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 scenario.”
The UCI choice suspending Aerts will be appealed to the Court docket 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 undoubtedly be again,” mentioned 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 at some point we may also obtain the suitable apology….”
Closing assertion (English) pic.twitter.com/qxn7LnJgryAugust 21, 2023
