French cycling has been dealt a blow this afternoon, as Sylvain Georges’ B sample has also tested positive.
The Frenchman failed his first on the 10th of May, while taking part in the Giro d’Italia. The substance found was the stimulant Heptaminol.
AG2R gave the excuse the morning after the news broke that Georges was sick, but the news soon spread.
That’s the second positive in under a year for the French outfit, who had Steve Houanard test positive at the Tour of Beijing, after being told his contract would not be renewed for the 2013 season.
The question that comes straight to mind is how two relatively unknown French riders, with no major results on their palmares, come to test positive while in a team that is proud of it’s anti-doping heritage.
Well, in the case of Houanard it is clear, the team told him he would no longer be required, and in desperation for a new contract, he turned to doping to try and gain some last minute results.
The case of Georges seems more complicated though. The Frenchman had been working hard all year, coming second in the classic Paris-Camembert, and fourth in the Boucles du Sud.
May seems early for riders to be scrambling for contracts, and he was in the midst of helping team leader Domenico Pozzovivo at the Giro d’Italia.
This blog was not set up to accuse teams of out and out doping, so that’s not what I’m going to do.
However two positive tests in under a year is not an impressive record for AG2R, but there is a more worrying conclusion to be drawn.
It seems that if riders choose, they can quite easily acquire the necessary doping products, as two French domestiques with no real winning heritage have managed to get their hands on enough to test positive at races.
We could say, well it shows the tests are doing their job, but the fact of the matter is, the riders shouldn’t be able to get hold of the substances in the first place.
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