NOW GB CYCLIST FAILS DRUG TEST
BRITISH CYCLING descended deeper into crisis last night after it emerged that one of their leading riders has failed a drugs test.
Sportsmail can reveal that Simon Yates, a road specialist and a former world champion on the track who is funded by British Cycling and is a member of the Olympic podium programme, is understood to have tested positive after a stage of the Paris-Nice race last month.
The 23-year-old, rated one of the brightest prospects in British cycling alongside his twin brother Adam, has been among those contesting a place in the British team for the Olympic road race in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
But the immediate future of the Bury-born cyclist is now uncertain until further details are known about the positive test.
A statement issued last night by a British Cycling spokesman to Sportsmail said: ‘British Cycling can confirm that it has been notified by the UCI of a potential anti-doping rule violation against a British
rider based on an analysis of a sample provided in competition. ‘As with any other doping violation charge at this level, those proceedings will be managed independently of British Cycling by the UCI. It would be inappropriate to comment further until the process has been completed.’ The father of the Yates brothers declined to comment last night. In a week when British Cycling are reeling from the discrimination scandal — exposed by
Sportsmail — that has led to the resignation of technical director Shane Sutton, this will come as a hammer blow. That said, Yates has little contact with the British Cycling programme in Manchester, since he is now on the pro tour. Yates is a product of British Cycling, having been selected at 18 for the Olympic academy programme. He won points race gold in the 2013 World Track Championships and now rides for the Australian professional team, OricaGreenEDGE. He finished seventh in the Paris-Nice, once again underlining his prowess as a climber and someone considered a future Grand Tour contender. He impressed in last year’s Tour de France after placing eighth on Stage 3, which finished on the brutally steep Mur de Huy, and 11th on the penultimate Alpe d’Huez stage. Two years ago another British rider, former Team Sky professional Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, was banned until December 2015 for anomalies found in his biological passport.