The former Creylon-Euphony rider Jonathan Breyne has confirmed on Tuesday that his positive test for clenbuterol at the last year’s Tour of Taihu Lake, where he claimed his first professional victory and finished runner up in the young riders’ classification, was confirmed by the analysis of the B-sample.

 

The 23-year old Belgian tested positive during the Chinese event on November 5, what was officially announced by the UCI on December 18. The news broke the young rider’s psyche and as it was announced by sudinfo.be, he had attempted suicide after acknowledging the initial result was positive.

 

"I was completely broken when I read the comments below the articles on the internet. I read the most negative comments and was shattered," Breyne said later.

 

Breyne was forced to wait almost three months before results from the B-sample were revealed, and even though the verdict confirmed the occurance of clenbuterol in both samples, young Belgian seems to feel relieved as he can finally proceed with further actions.

 

"There is 0.000000005 of a gram of clenbuterol per millilitre of urine in the sample," Breyne told Het Nieuwsblad.

 

"On one hand, I'm unhappy, but on the other hand, I'm relieved that I finally know the results of the counter-analysis. Things are clear now and my lawyer Johnny Maeschalk can start working in earnest on the dossier."

 

It is expected that the UCI will soon request the Belgian cycling federation to formally open proceedings against Breyne. He faces a two-year ban if found guilty of a doping infraction.

 

The Belgian cyclist claims that the clenbuterol in his urine came from contaminated meat, what is reported to be a serious problem in China and the riders are repeatedly warned on a high risk by the World Anti-Doping Agency while participating in Chinese events

"In the race road-book, it said that the food at the hotel was guaranteed to be without clenbuterol. We received meal trays after the stage, and I did not know that it was in the meat," Breyne told L’Équipe in January.

 

The same issue affected Michael Rogers of Tinkoff-Saxo in the end of last season, as the occurance of clenbuterol in his urine samples were revealed after his successful campaign in the far east, where he has won the Japan Cup on October 20 following his participation in the Tour of Beijing.

 

While Roger’s B-sample has not yet been forthcoming, the Tinkoff-Saxo rider also blamed the contaminated meat eaten in China for his positive test.

 

"I have never knowingly or deliberately ingested clenbuterol," Rogers said in a statement in December.

 

"I was present in China for the WorldTour race, Tour of Beijing. I understand that it has been acknowledged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as well as other anti-doping bodies, that food contaminated with Clenbuterol is a serious problem in China."