Tom Danielson’s doping case is a strange one. USADA informed several media outlets at his B-sample also tested positive, but yet they have not made any announcement of a case against the 37-year-old Cannondale-Garmin rider. He has also not been placed on the UCI’s provisional suspension list.

Danielson has firmly denied that he has done anything wrong via Twitter, but he has been silent since then. Even his close friends Phil Gaimon and team manager Jonathan Vaugthers don’t seem to be sure what is going on going by recent interviews they have given.

Should he be found guilty, Danielson faces a series of potential bans.  A conventional positive for an androgenic agent could result in a four-year ban under the 2015 rules. However, this ban would not apply if the rider could prove the positive came as a result of some unintentional ingestion of the drug, as in the case of a contaminated supplement. The maximum ban for unintentional use of an androgen is two years. Danielson may get off lightly if he can prove that he unknowingly consumed found that had been contaminated by the androgen. But it would be his second offence after being named in the USADA Reasoned Decision and served a six month offseason ban for EPO, blood transfusions, cortisone and testosterone. 

This is shaping up to be a strange case which doesn’t look like being solved any time soon, which may mean Danielson doesn’t get to race in 2016 even if he isn’t found guilty, which at his age could spell retirement.