Rest Day? Shouldn’t we start calling them arrest days?
On the first rest day for this year’s tour Cofidis rider Rémy Di Gregorio was arrested after a police raid at his team’s hotel in Bourg-en-Bresse.
Today we hear that Fränk Schleck has withdrawn from the Tour after Xipamide was found in his urine sample from three days ago.
After being informed by the UCI about the presence of xipamide in the urine sample of Fränk Schleck on July 14, the team has decided to immediately withdraw Fränk Schleck from the Tour de France.
Even though an abnormal A sample does not require these measures, Mr. Schleck and the team believe this is the right thing to do, to ensure the Tour de France can go on in calm and that Fränk Schleck can prepare his defense in accordance with the legal timing to do so.
On the subject of xipamide the team can declare the following: it is not a product that is present in any of the medicine that the team uses and the reason for the presence of xipamide in the urine sample of Mr. Schleck is unclear to the team. Therefore, the team is not able to explain the adverse findings at this point.
However, the team is fully determined to collaborate with the anti-doping agencies in order to resolve the matter.
– Fränk Schleck statement [RadioShack-Nissan]
Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck, who finished third in last year’s Tour de France, has left this year’s race after testing positive for a banned diuretic, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has revealed.
– Schleck leaves Tour after positive test [SBS Cycling Central]
PAU, France (AFP) — Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck, a former podium finisher, was being questioned by police at the Tour de France Tuesday after testing positive for a banned diuretic, his RadioShack team said.
Schleck, who has already quit the race, went to a local police station of his own accord after being told police would be coming to take him in for questioning, according to a team official.
– Schleck talking with French police [velonews]
Earlier today, the UCI advised Luxembourger Fränk Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) of an Adverse Analytical Finding in a urine sample collected from him at an in-competition test at the Tour de France on July 14, 2012.
The WADA accredited laboratory in Châtenay-Malabry detected the presence of the diuretic Xipamide in Schleck’s urine sample.
According to UCI anti-doping rules the finding does not require a provisional suspension, but in a statement the UCI said, “the UCI is confident that his team will take the necessary steps to enable the Tour de France to continue in serenity and to ensure that their rider has the opportunity to properly prepare his defense in particular within the legal timeline, which allows four days for him to have his B sample analyzed.”
Xipamide, the substance found in Schleck’s urine, is not specifically mentioned on WADA’s prohibited substance list.
– UCI announces adverse analytical finding for Fränk Schleck at Tour de France [cyclingnews]
Xipamide is about 40 years old and quite an uncommon diuretic – the World Anti-Doping Authority reported no positive tests for it in 2010, and don’t mention it at all on their website (although it is most assuredly considered a “substance … with a similar chemical structure or similar biological effect” to other diuretics).
Typically, xipamide would be used for the treatment of oedema (fluid retention) or related conditions and has no therapeutic exemption. That is, there is no condition under which you are allowed to test positive to it.
– Frank Schleck, the Tour de France and doping: so what’s xipamide? [The Conversation]
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