Paris: US rider Tom Danielson has been suspended by Cannondale-Garmin after a positive test for synthetic testosterone, the American team confirmed yesterday.
Danielson, 37, revealed himself on his Twitter account that he had been informed of the positive test carried out on July 9 by the US anti-doping agency (USADA).
“I have not taken this or any other banned substance,” insisted Danielson, who has requested that the “B” sample be tested and blamed possible contamination by food supplements.
“I would never ever take anything like this especially after everything I have gone through the last (few) years,” he wrote. “This makes absolutely no sense.”
Danielson could face a lifetime ban from cycling having previously admitted doping while riding with the Discovery Channel team.
He served a six-month suspension between September 2012 and March 2013, and his results from March 2005 to September 2006 were wiped out.
Danielson, who has ridden for the team of Jonathan Vaughters since 2008, finished eighth in the 2011 Tour de France.
Winner of the Tour of Utah in 2013 and 2014, he was forced to withdraw from this year’s race which runs from August 3 to 9.
Also yesterday, Movistar team announced that Colombian rider Nairo Quintana and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, second and third respectively in the Tour de France, will participate in the Vuelta a Espana starting on August 22.
Quintana, runner-up behind Britain’s Chris Froome in the Tour de France last month, will be competing in the three-week race which concludes on September 13 for the third time.
The 25-year-old finished 36th in his first participation in 2012, but was forced to pull out last year after a fall having worn the leader’s jersey for a day. Valverde, 35, won the race in 2009 and has reached the podium in the last three editions - second in 2012 and third in 2013 and 2014. AGENCIES
