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Orica-GreenEDGE rider Simon Yates tests positive, team say it's their fault

Orica-GreenEDGE cyclist Simon Yates has tested positive for a banned substance. (Brian Townsley / Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
28th April, 2016
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Orica-GreenEDGE cyclist Simon Yates has tested positive for banned substance Terbutaline, however the team are taking full responsibility, calling the incident “an administrative error”.

OGE say they gave the 23-year-old the substance to treat his “documented asthma problems”, but forgot to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).

“This is solely based on a human error that the doctor in question has taken full responsibility for,” read a team statement.

“There has been no wrong-doing on Simon Yates’ part. The team takes full responsibility for this mistake and wishes to underline their support for Simon during this process.”

Yates’ adverse analytical finding came after Stage 6 of Paris-Nice – a race in which the Briton finished an impressive seventh overall. Whether that result will stand remains to be seen, as does whether Yates will be punished.

OGE have been hugely successful in their early years, winning one-day Classics, taking out stages at Grand Tours, and seeing a number of team members wear the yellow, pink and red leader’s jerseys at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana respectively.

However, a legitimate Grand Tour contender has been lacking for Australia’s first WorldTour team.

Yates, along with his twin brother Adam and Colombian rider Esteban Chaves, were the riders OGE had been nurturing in hopes of one day winning one of the sport’s three-week races.

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The long-term investment in the trio of young riders looked to be coming good when Chaves placed fifth overall at the 2015 Vuelta.

And with Chaves set to line up for OGE at the 2016 Giro starting next week, both Yates brothers were expected to represent the Aussie team at the 2016 Tour, with hopes of a high finish for one or both.

Those hopes could very well be dashed for this year, or for as many as four years if Yates receives the heaviest punishment possible under the WADA code – though that would seem unlikely.

The full statement from Orica-GreenEDGE
On April 22, the team was notified that Simon Yates has an adverse analytical finding from a test conducted at Paris-Nice, stage 6 on March 12, 2016.

The positive result is for the substance Terbutaline.

The substance was given to Simon Yates in the form an asthma inhaler and accordingly, this was noted by the team doctor on the Doping Control Form, signed at the time of the test.

The substance was given in an ongoing treatment of Simon Yates’ documented asthma problems. However, in this case the team doctor made an administrative error by failing to apply for the TUE required for the use of this treatment.

The use of Terbutaline without a current TUE is the reason it has been flagged as an adverse analytical finding. This is solely based on a human error that the doctor in question has taken full responsibility for.

There has been no wrong-doing on Simon Yates’ part. The team takes full responsibility for this mistake and wishes to underline their support for Simon during this process.

The team is concerned by the leak of this information and has no further comments until there has been a full evaluation made of the documentation, statements and evidence that the team and Simon Yates are now submitting to the UCI in order to clarify everything.

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