A doping-related scandal involving the tainted Astana team of Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali marred the start of the Grand Boucle in Utrecht on Saturday.
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Rider Lars Boom, 29, has failed a health test for low cortisol levels, which can indicate abuse of cortisone.
Boom returned abnormal low levels of cortisol when tested by UCI on Friday, triggering an eight-day rest period under Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) regulations, which Astana adhere to.
According to L’Equipe, Astana asked the UCI whether they could replace Boom, but the request was denied because the test results arrived after the cut-off point for registration of riders.
Astana’s other option is to ignore the test, withdraw from MPCC and let Dutch rider Boom start the race.
“Astana Pro Team medical staff will continue to monitor Boom to assess any potential health risk for the athlete, and will retest the athlete in the next days”.
“In these situations (it is important) to apply the rules accurately and consistently”, he said. “This is an unfortunate result for them but no anti-doping rules have been broken in this case”.
Because low cortisol levels are not conclusive proof of doping and his levels were within the UCI threshold, Boom can still be allowed to start Saturday’s first stage – an individual time trial in the Dutch city of Utrecht – if Astana decides to go against the MPCC recommendations.
“Team medical staff have advised that there is no danger to the rider’s health or safety to start the 2015 Tour de France”.
Boom, the 2011 Tour of Britain champion, joined the team this year and was set to help Nibali launch his predicted attack on the cobbles of the Tour’s fourth stage.
Astana – which could have opted to start the race with eight riders – could potentially be thrown out of MPCC, an umbrella group for several teams who are working to keep cycling doping-free.
MPCC president Roger Legeay told AFP, “Astana asked the UCI to authorize a replacement, but the UCI refused”.
Because of that, it has taken the decision to press ahead with its original roster rather than start with one rider less than the usual nine.
“I’ve always been 100 per cent against doping, and nothing has changed”.
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Cycling’s governing body, UCI, even said there were “compelling grounds” to request that Astana, which is backed by the Kazakhstan government, be stripped of its license altogether. “Our training programme has been spoken about and we’ve paid the price for the riders who doped but we can’t pay the price for mistakes we haven’t made ourselves”, Nibali said earlier on Friday.
