Current Enduro World Series leader, Martin Maes, has failed anti-doping tests in Rotorua (March 24th) and Tasmania (March 31st).
Maes returned an Adverse Analytical Finding for Probenecid, a masking agent prohibited by WADA. Probenecid is named under S5 of the WADA list as a Diuretic and Masking Agent; it is a specified substance, which means that it can be ingested accidentally and in some cases can result in a more lenient sanction. Maes apparently took the drug on the advice of doctors to help him recover from a cut he sustained on his leg at the NZ Enduro (March 7th-10th).
Dr Tom Jerram, who prescribed the drug to help boost the effects of antibiotics, described the wound as “life or limb threatening”. Both Martin and his team manager Mark Maurissen inquired if the drug was banned but there was apparently no phone signal to check.
As the Probenecid was prescribed by a trained doctor, the GT team applied to the UCI for a TUE (Theraputic Use Exemption), which allows athletes to take prohibited substances without punishment if they have a medical need. The UCI denied this request on June 1, after the failed tests, but they did accept that the drug would not have enhanced his performance and was administered by a doctor so handed down a more lenient punishment than the maximum possible two year ban.
Maes was tested again in Madeira (May 12th) where he returned a negative. The UCI have imposed a 90 day suspension starting from the weekend after Madeira that will end the weekend of the Whistler EWS. He will be stripped of his wins from Tasmania and Rotorua but will be able to keep his result from Madeira. He will not be eligible to race the Whistler EWS.
UCI statement on Martin Maes
Jun 26, 2019
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that the Belgian rider Martin Maes has been suspended for a period of 90 days for a non-intentional Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV).
The affair concerns an ADRV for the presence of the prohibited substance Probenecid* in samples collected in-competition on 24 and 31 March 2019.
As per the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR), the sanction began on 13 May 2019.
Moreover, the results obtained by the rider in rounds 1 and 2 of the Enduro World Series have been annulled. This is not the case however for round 3, where he tested negative.
The case has been resolved via an acceptance of consequences as provided for by the WADC and the UCI ADR.
The UCI will not comment any further.
* Probenecid is classified in the category “Diuretics and Masking Agents” and considered a specified substance as per the World Anti-Doping Prohibited List.
Martin Maes' doctor, who provided him with the probenecid at the NZ Enduro had the following statement:
| I am a Specialist Emergency Physician, and have been practising Emergency Medicine for over 15 years. On March 8th -10th 2019, I was acting in a voluntary role as a event doctor on the New Zealand Enduro, a backcountry mountain bike race in Marlborough, New Zealand.
On the afternoon of March 8th 2019, I was reviewing and treating a number of riders who had been injured in the day’s racing. Mark Maurissen approached me, and asked me to review Martin Maes, who had sustained a significant laceration to his right pretibial area (lower leg) during the day’s racing. Martin had sustained an approximately 5 centimeter long vertically orientated burst type laceration to his lower leg. There was significant soft tissue damage, and the wound was grossly contaminated (conditions were particularly muddy that day) I irrigated and debrided the wound extensively, applied a topical antiseptic solution, and sutured the skin using 4 x interrupted sutures. I was concered about a significant risk of infection given the wound location, tissue damage, and initial contamination. At that point I dispensed a course of flucloxacillin (an antibiotic) in a standard dose (500 milligrams 4 times a day for 3 days with a goal of preventing infection). I gave Martin standard wound care advice, and planned to follow him up in 2 days
On March 10th 2019 at around 10 am, I reviewed Martin’s wound. At that point, he had a clearly established serious infection surrounding the wound, despite the prophylactic antibiotics. This infection had developed over the last 24 hours. I removed 2 of the sutures, draining a small amount of pus, and irrigated and further debrided the wound. A higher dose of antibiotic was clearly indicated, as the infection was significant enough be life or limb threating if left unchecked. My standard practice in a case like this is to give a higher dose of flucloxacillin in combination with a medicine called probenicid. In this case, probenicid acts to reduce the excretion of penicillin type antibiotics from the kidneys, thus boosting the blood levels of antibiotic. These higher levels of antibiotic are particularly important for treating serious infection, and I do not believe Martins infection would have resolved without them. The only other option would have been hospitalisation for intravenous antibiotics, which carries its own set of risks and costs, and would not necessarily be more effective than adding probenicid.
I provided Martin with a prescription for 2 grams of flucloxacillin 3 times a day for the next 2 days (dropping to 1 gram 3 times a day for a further 5 days), and probenicid 500 milligrams 3 times a day for 7 days. I discussed all of this with Dr Julian Balance, an Orthopaedic Surgeon also volunteering as a race doctor. He agreed with the management plan as above.
Both Martin and Mark asked if the medications I were permissible for racing. I informed them that probenicid has no performance enhancing effects, and as far as I was aware was not a prohibited substance for racing. I checked this with Dr Balance, as well as Dr Sam Grummitt (another of the race doctors), neither of whom were aware that probenicid was a prohibited substance. There was no cellular data coverage at the event to enable us to check this. Martin began vomiting that afternoon, likely as a result of the higher doses of flucloxacillin, which often cause significant gastrointestinal upset. At that point we discussed referring him to hospital, and elected to give him a trial of an anti-vomiting drug prior to this. I dispensed 4 milligrans of ondansetron, which settled his vomiting, and enabled him to take the prescribed antibiotics.
I understand Martin made a good recovery, and was able to race 2 weeks later. I also understand that Martin returned a positive urine drug test for probenicid at that event. I have subsequently learned that probenicid is on the UCI prohibited substances list, and has previously been used as a masking agent, although it has no performance enhancing effects.
The probenicid I prescribed Martin was clearly medically indicated and I would do so again given the same clinical scenario. I believe he would have experienced a significant impairment to health had I not prescribed it, with the potantial for life threatening spread of infection. Had I known it was a prohibited substance, I would have been happy to fill in a therapeutic exemption form. I am confident that there was no performance enhancing benefit from the prescription, and in fact the severity of the infection was likely to have been detrimental to his performance in the next few weeks—Dr Tom Jerram |
Maes is now the third rider to fail a drug test in the EWS after
Richie Rude and Jared Graves tested positive in November. Richie Rude was judged to have ingested Higenamine and Oxilofrine accidentally and has now returned to racing after an 8 month ban. We are still awaiting official confirmation on Jared Graves' ruling for the same two substances. Martin was tested at the same time as Jared and Richie in Olargues but did not return a positive result.
GT statement on Martin Maes
Jun 26, 2019
On May 21, 2019, GT Factory Racing athlete Martin Maes was notified by the Cycling Anti- doping Federation (CADF) of an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for a prohibited substance. There was a high level of Probenecid in his test samples from EWS Round 1 in New Zealand and EWS Round 2 in Tasmania in March 2019. Probenecid is on the UCI’s List of Prohibited Substances and Methods. The Probenecid and a related antibiotic were prescribed by an official race doctor at the New Zealand Enduro to help treat a serious infection in Martin’s leg.
According to the official race doctor: “Martin sustained a lower leg laceration which developed a serious infection while racing the New Zealand Enduro (March 8-10, 2019). The infection was worsening despite standard doses of antibiotics, and it had the potential to become life threatening. The doctors at the New Zealand Enduro elected to add Probenecid, which is commonly used to boost blood levels of penicillin-type antibiotics, and it was effective in treating Martin’s infection. It is a common part of all of our practices to use this medicine in the setting of serious infection.
“At the time, neither the volunteer medical team nor Martin considered that Probenecid would be on the banned substance list. It has no performance enhancing effects, and in fact, Martin’s performance was likely to have been impaired in the weeks following due to the severity of the infection.” - Dr. Tom Jerram MBChB (Hons) FACEM Emergency Physician and Volunteer Medical Director of the New Zealand Enduro.
On June 1, 2019, Martin received a denial for his Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) request. While the CADF TUE committee recognized the Probenecid was purely for medical reasons and that it would not have provided additional enhancement to Martin’s performance, the TUE was still not approved.
GT Factory Racing fully supports Martin Maes in this situation due to the understanding that neither he, nor the team, took any actions to intentionally violate anti-doping rules or regulations. On the contrary, Martin inquired with the official race doctors if the prescriptions they had given him were acceptable for use by a UCI athlete and the race doctors were acting within their clinical responsibility to treat a potentially life-threatening infection in Martin’s leg.
GT Factory Racing is committed to creating and fostering an environment where riders can perform to the best of their ability, within all rules and regulations mandated by the governing body of the sport. GT invests in teams and athletes because of the love of the sport, and racing is a way to connect with their passionate fan base.
Each GT team and rider understands that support comes with strict requirements regarding the rules and regulations that govern the sport. It is for this reason that Martin will accept the UCI’s ruling.
“I’m speechless at the moment. My entire life has been dedicated to cycling and racing since 2013. I’ve trained so hard to make my dreams come true. There was an emergency to treat an infected wound, and we did not double-check the prescription from the doctors. This is our sole mistake. Now, it’s time to face the situation, train harder than ever, and get back very soon to convert that frustration into pleasure and performance on my bike.”
The UCI complies with a set of strict rules and regulations, but also fully acknowledged the circumstances and that this was not a deliberate violation of any antidoping rules. As a result, Martin will be prohibited from racing for a period of ninety days. He will be disqualified from rounds 1 and 2 of the EWS and will be required to pay a fine of 2,500CHF. However, his win and results from EWS Madeira will not be affected as he returned a negative test result after going through doping controls at this event.
Martin is and will remain an advocate for clean and fair racing. He will return to the season stronger than before. Meanwhile, he’ll stand next to his teammates and will fully support them during the next Enduro World Series’ events.
EWS statement on Martin Maes
Jun 26, 2019
We write this as we learn of the adverse analytical finding and subsequent penalty imposed by the UCI on Martin Maes following anti-doping tests carried out at Round 1 and Round 2 of the 2019 Enduro World Series.
We will not pass comment on the details of this case as that is the duty of the UCI and the athlete involved but we acknowledge and respect the outcome of this unfortunate case and 2019 series rankings will be updated accordingly.
We will state that from the beginning of the Enduro World Series, as we celebrate our 50th event this coming weekend, that we have always placed athlete health and safety at the very fore and have worked hard to create everything a new sport needs, ultimately partnering closely with the UCI and adopting all associated international sporting laws and practices while taking the international lead on others, including medical and head injury guidance. This week in Canazei we host our first anti-doping rider and team educational seminar alongside the UCI Legal Anti-Doping Services, a further investment of the EWS in athlete education and best practice.
What is important in this and previous cases is not to apportion blame, but to look at how everyone can avoid these occurrences from happening again.
Therefore, the prescription of medication outside of EWS racing that has ultimately lead to the penalty imposed on Martin Maes must serve as a lesson to all athletes, organisers, teams, coaches and medics that although the athlete will always be held responsible in the outcome of an adverse anti-doping finding, all parties in mountain bike sport must be responsible at all levels for learning and operating at the highest level, and with the best knowledge available.
We will continue to work to educate all parties in and out of the EWS family of riders, teams and events and urge all other parties in the sport out-with the official EWS sphere recognise the potential impact of their actions on riders and seek as much education as possible in order to protect the sport, and every rider within it.
More to follow.
Under the circumstances I’d always take a healthy leg over two EWS wins, but it still sucks, considering the reasoning of his doctor and no other previous or suspicious results.
I fully support a zero tolerance policy towards doping, but this just shows that there’s no clear black and white solution in some cases.
I definitely would appreciate a response from the UCI on this. They just took Martin his wins and his chance for the title. Because he cut his leg when racing.
No idea why the UCI officials at the races can't have the power to give a go on such a treatment on location. Give them a radio that works and make them be available around the clock in case needed.
UCI stuff doesn't always have to be a conspiracy but they could do with a better statement along the lines of the doctor's which explains why the end results was as it is. Communication is key
So from my point of view the UCI must train the docorts and should have decided in a different way for this case
tell me more about it
Sometimes I feel UCI and WADA are like a Saudi court, seriously, all the blanks are filled with perfectly reasonable and verifiable explanations by the responsible officials. No shady answers.
HEALTH should always be first, not rules and regulations, no athlete or doctor should have to choose between life threatening, life time injury over a regulation that can be temporarily overruled. F*ck them.
You just can not just mix up antibiotics
yeah, you certainly have access to whole array of drugs, in the middle of a forest in tasmania, being a volunteer doctor at a bike race.
get your sh*t together man
I think it's highly unfair to use the same strict liability system for Enduro that's used for road racing. The setup and facilities are totally different - it's apples and oranges. Maes has been very very hard done by.
Road cycling is full of injured cyclists racing day after day after sustaining horrendous injuries in crashes, that's not in an athlete mind specially due to their competitive nature, the goals ahead and because their job is to race, and other problems are for other people to care - that's why they have a team, to decide for him. I'm not sure how Martin could have decided between a medical opinion on how to treat a certain infection or just don't race cause it may be tainted? Who in the world would even think about that? That would probably transform me in a crazy tinfoiled hat rider.
However, Vaughters spent his career on EPO, hot sauced to the gills, so it's tough to give him a pass overall. But that situation was silly.
Absolutely, this decision from the UCI is totally ridiculous/absurd/nonsense
All this sound too familiar, too close to allegations of the past that were fabricated hastily to cover doping.
If UCI is going to be that strict and deny TUE from doctors at least make sure you provide web connections so athletes teams and doctors can access UCI banned substance lists
There are very good reasons why this stuff is prohibited and why the UCI requires the TUE to be approved before treatment. If they don't, this would open up a ton of loopholes for crafty teams to avoid the consequences after being caught. Keep in mind that many professional athletes would do anything, and i mean absolutely anything including life-threatening procedures to win immortal fame.
The UCI is no saint and their handling of the Rude/Graves situation was shameful, but i believe that this time they did well and Maes is the victim of a series of unfourtunate events.
That maes complete sense.
So they knew it was questionable so could have applied for a TUE at the time instead of after the failed test.
translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=www.vojomag.com/ews-interview-martin-maes-suspendu-une-negligence-qui-me-coute-cher/&xid=17259,15700002,15700023,15700186,15700191,15700256,15700259,15700262
I think the reason the UCI took this action is because it's his own doctor whose job it is to not administer any banned substances to his patients/clients. If Maes team doctor had administered the drug to a different team's rider, the rider would be essentially blameless, but this is his staff taking the action.
Sucks all around, but I can see the middle ground on it.
It took me literally 30 seconds to search for 'Probenecid' in google, find this list then use cntrl & F to search the PDF for this substance.
Super bummed for Maes, its a tough situation. It might be time for all disciplines in our sport to receive the same kind of doping awareness education that we get on the road. I would hate for the EWS to start getting a bad rep for this kind of thing. The resources are available (even without cell service), seems like the education component is lacking.
Pure class from Martin
In this case it appears the WADA/UCI (whoever) accepted the facts presented as genuine and coherent and gave the minimum ban possible under the rules. If this doesn't say anything, nothing will. However they did not give the TUE due to the strict liability of the failed test...
They did not do this for Armstrong, Froome, or the other multitude of other road riders who have failed tests.
Sucks for Maes. Like genuinely brutal shit.
Sucks more for Tom. Guy is a legend, without his support in the region there would be so many fewer events, far lower standard of care at the events he volunteers at. Just providing the care he is somewhat obligated to give to help a human. Not a racer, not a competitor at that point, just helping a human with an injury.
I think UCI did the right thing.
"Are you in a the position to get the official word from UCI on this? I've got my opinion but I've only read the response from GT and the doctor. I'm really interested to see how UCI is going to defend this decision."
LOL! You don't understand the protocols in place here at all.
"Both Martin and his team manager Mark Maurissen inquired if the drug was banned but there was apparently no phone signal to check."
Secondly, Maes was injured on course. You can't wait an hour for a doctor to show up, and give their approval, when your next start time is in 15 minutes.
Also, Maes is not a "the victim of a series of unfourtunate events". More like a series of bone-headed and short-sighted decisions.
subtle introduction so far, cant wait for the second half results to really measure performance.
haha
It is a non enhancing drug, the doctor made a statement, other doctors confirmed, all on paper and still the UCI decides to penalise the rider. A terrible decision from the UCI and with poor oversight of the whole implications for the future.
The EWS was so much better before the UCI started meddling... and they are just starting...
@Ricardo-Sa
@chriskneeland
Yes, medical treatment of something urgent takes precedence. But if it requires a banned substance and it is not possible to file a TUE, the athlete still has the option not to race in a UCI event until he is clean again.
There are many injuries which make it impossibe to race for the duration of treatment for a variety of reasons. Requiring a banned substance is just another of those reasons.
I say f*ck the UCI, if they wanted to, EWS COULD totally ignore and overrule this crazy decision, reinstate Martin, and if necessary withdraw from UCI affiliation altogether.
Of course they won't.....nor will they even dare to publically condemn it in their public statement, because they have already sold out to the UCI gravy train.
Cash is king, as they say. Sad.
What a shame for the sport of Enduro. It all started as a grass roots idea, by riders, for the riders.
Is that what it still is today? I don't think so.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/7433922
1995 Pan American Games. Canadian women's rower Silken Laumann was stripped of her gold medal for taking an over the counter cold medicine because you know... nyquil is going to make you faster racer...
Misworded sentence gave me the impression.
www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/science-medicine/prohibited-list-documents
We love working with the EWS but not the UCI or especially USAC
"On June 1, 2019, Martin received a denial for his Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) request. While the CADF TUE committee recognized the Probenecid was purely for medical reasons and that it would not have provided additional enhancement to Martin’s performance, the TUE was still not approved."
Absolutely appalling. I'd love to see the reasoning for this.
If it was a roadie there would definitely not have been a ban, they would have given a back dated TUE. Probably it would have been in the large pile of applications they deal with for things like steroids for Asthma or Allergies etc (like Wiggins in the TdF). They protect road cyclists at all costs as that is where they get their money.
In this case, someone innocent has been banned unfairly. I'd be all for the UCI not being involved in MTB at all.
Maybe it is as simple as you can't apply for a TUE having already registered a failed test?
...Yet they let Froome get away with the whole Ventolin thing. Clear double standards.
It makes sense especially since this really is open for abuse (even if in this case this is really, really unlikely to be abused).
It's the dog ate my homework defense, but with proof that indeed the dog just did that. I get the anger and disappointment, but I do understand the reasoning/process behind it. I also don't think the UCI is happy about this.
In this case CAS would be an option (I bet he would get a nod and handshake there), though probably too expensive.
See what I mean?
You can't catch all the crooks without also convicting some of the innocent. Pick the lesser of the two evils and be a dick about it.
Read Maes statement in the newspaper that ChrisKneeland posted above. Maes understands that this rule is for a reason. He and his team were negligent in not looking up the substances, in not having the WADA banned list with them (there's an app for that), and not applying for a TUE prior to the testing.
Maes is pure class. His handling of this will only boost the respect we all have for him. Enduro is getting more pro, for better or worse, and there's growing pains with that.
I also don't get the hate for the UCI here on pinkbike lemming-land. It's just herd mentality to pile on that popular sentiment. The riders, including Maes, are all in favor of UCI support for the events and keeping the sport clean.
Now whether the UCI has allowed backdated TUEs for roadies or other racers remains to be seen. That would be an area I would think GT/Maes could appeal or protest.
The procedures are in place for riders and teams to follow not because they want to get in the way, but it DOES help them when something has gone wrong.
It sucks majorly for MM, but he'll never make the mistake again himself of not informing/making sure the lines are followed. If it helps one future rider in the future to avoid this kind of mistake, they owe Martin a beer.
The reason why this policy exists with regard to TUEs is a direct consequence of athletes and doctors abusing the TUE system to their benefit in order to cover cheating. I am not saying that happened here, rather to the contrary I believe this story to be entirely truthful, but Maes is simply paying the penalty for dirty racers and doctors of years past.
Could Maes not have been given a back dated TUE as it was clearly merited, and the substance has no performance enhancing effects?
While i do not suspect Rude and Graves to have doped intentionally, i do see it as fair to ban them on the basis of negligence, even though i see the problem here with the EWS and UCI and their banned substances list as well.
Their case was much less clear cut though and therefore i cannot understand how Maes gets issued a longer ban and loses his wins, when the chain of events leading to the ingestion is as clear cut as it is in his case. Especially when it seems like Rude and Graves have gotten a lot of lenience, as they should have been issued a lifetime EWS ban under the applicable ruleset back then (which i do not wish upon them, but it would have been the correct thing to do according to the ruleset).
EWS really needs to step up their game in this regard, as the current situation makes their sanctioning seem rather arbitrary, especially if the claims are true that it was not possible for Maes to reach an official for an inquiry about the medication.
Although this tactic is not very effective in a longer running event like the EWS, it might be appealing for short term goals like the Olympics.
Must´ve misread that as 9 months somehow.
I get the argument, but still, how are we supposed to keep athletes healthy then?
Imho it´s not too hard to handle that problem really. IF an athletes does such a thing in order to legally take a masking agent in order to hide a PED, they should just make sure to rigorously test that athletes samples afterwards. They should also implement more effective testing methods for these specific athletes, because by now we know that regular testing is not as specific and precise and in other sports disciplines many athletes have been found guilty through specific testing despite not failing the regular tests. So the UCI really only needs to make it clear that a TUE has massive consequence in the form of an extended test regimen for a year after the TUE or something along those lines so it can only be a one time benefit for the athlete at best.
The problem here isn´t TUEs or how they can be misused, but rather how they´re not properly implemented in the rule system.
Either make exceptions and have a very specific ruleset for them, or don´t. The second isn´t really an option due to athlete health, so the UCI needs to make clear what the exact terms for a TUE are and how an athlete in Martins situation should deal with the problem at hand. It doesn´t paint the UCI in a good light when their athletes are neither able to reach them through an appropriate channel nor can be administered an exception afterwards given proper documentation. I mean, what are the TUEs for then?
An athlete undergoing some serious medical procedure like cancer treatment surely won´t need a TUE as he´s out of the sport for a longer time period anyway, but apparently some minor infection doesn´t justify a TUE so i´m certainly a little baffled by the question what the TUEs are for.
It´s not on us to find a solution to this problem but rather the UCI, and gambling with an athletes health and livelyhood like that is exactly why the UCI is under such scrutiny on a regular basis. To me it´s just baffling how these things can still happen. They paint themselves as THE AUTHORITY and then controversial things like this can still happen in 2019 because apparently they didn´t think of an obvious situation like this.
This must be incredibly frustrating for an athlete to deal with as whatever you do, you´re f*cked.
Full itw from Martin in french, everything is well explained.
c'est clair au moins
pas de bol pour lui :-(
Not much french left from school
From the article:
Maes apparently took the drug on the advice of doctors to help him recover from a cut he sustained on his leg at the NZ Enduro (March 7th-10th).
Current Enduro World Series leader, Martin Maes, has failed anti-doping tests in Rotorua (March 24th) and Tasmania (March 31st).
The doc had nothing to do with the EWS. It happened on a more "amateurish" race.
Where GT and Martin failed is that they could have opened the TUE between the races before he was tested positive. The article is not very precise here.
As the Probenecid was prescribed by a trained doctor, the GT team applied to the UCI for a TUE (Theraputic Use Exemption), which allows athletes to take prohibited substances without punishment if they have a medical need. The UCI denied this request on June 1, after the failed tests
I think I see why the UCI isn't budging, punishment for racing a non UCI event.
It’s an unfortunate reality that honest people like Martin Maes now have to suffer because of dishonest athletes and medical staff of the past.
“Because the original use of Probenecid by athletes was in amounts that far exceed therapeutic doses (normally 1 gm per day), it was extremely easy to detect. Because of ease of detection due to the unusually large size of doses, Probenecid is no longer used by dishonest athletes. Probenecid no longer can be used as a weapon for cheating. As soon as it became a substance on the banned drug list (believed to have been in 1987) it ceased to be used by athletes for cheating because of its very ease of detection.”
After this and Richie Rude/ Jared Graves scenario, it seems pretty clear that the UCI isn’t interested in punishing cheating athletes. From a medical standpoint, to punish an athlete for such inconsequential “substances”, is more shameful than being the athlete who took the “substance”.
There's much to scoff about regarding the UCI, but putting probenecid on that list is not their decision.
What UCI did here also seems reasonable: Shortest ban possible due to a procedural error of Maes and his team. Because if Maes/doctor had acted the first day instead of months later it would have been a very different story. I feel sorry for Maes, but these things really are the athletes responsibility.
What’s the alternative from the perspective of the athlete???? Hey doc, even though that med is clinically indicated, don’t give it to me.
That’s not a choice any athlete should have to make.
It's exactly that part that Maes forgot to do (not strange as as he said it was quite new for him). The sad part is that it did go through their minds at the time, but they simply let go afterwards. Understandable considering the assurance of the doctor, but still a mistake.
Download the list to your phones so this doesn't happen again unconsciously, naively, unintentionally, however it may arrive
www.wada-ama.org/en/resources/science-medicine/prohibited-list-documents
Show the UCI that mtb isn't riddled with pseudo asthmatics, unrepentant cheats and lovers of steak, unlike their beloved tarmac-based medical experiment.
It was possible to get a positive(and did indeed happen a few years ago in China and Mexico), but not anymore since WADA put the treshold a lot higher.
I don’t know where Alberto Contador got his clenbuterol from, but it certainly wasn’t from the cattle. Perhaps it could be related to the plasticizers (indicative of blood doping) found in his urine as well (found by a test not recognized by WADA, therefore there was never action taken)...
Seven days, that's a fair amount of time, maybe the drug doesn't vanish so easily after repeated use. 500m 3x a day seems a lot too
The earlier test at Rotorua seems to line up with the explanation but I just feel that the second test in Tasmania needs some further explanation. It may be as simple as the fact that it can be tested for well afterwards but I really don’t know.
JG: "Tell me about it...."
MM: "Hold my beer"
UCI, get your act together. This is a scandalous display of utter crap. Read the medical report. Persistent infection despite initial antibiotic treatment, pus coming out of the wound. The treatment was 100% indicated.
Is there any way to appeal this? Even if there was the season would be lost for Martin, bit still.
Martin, I and I'm sure everyone else is really sorry for you. Hang in man!!! You did NOTHING WRONG!
I see a 2019 DH World Championship in the future of Maes.
Rude: Hold my water bottle
Savage!
VOLUNTEER doctors and Maes; give him his wins back.
On the other hand, UCI should insure that everyone involved in racing has a copy of the latest banned substance list to keep as a document on phones/devices so a cellular signal is unnecessary, and kill a few trees and print them out for healthcare staff to keep at each stage.
Third, who’s gonna come out with socks or guards that cover the back of one’s calves?
2. Did you miss the lengths Froome had to go at CAS before the UCI yielded? And that was indeed a question of big pockets.
Maes got a very short sanction for a procedural error by him and his team. I'm not a big fan of the UCI, but this seems reasonable
Interesting how most of the peloton does
Overlaying the timeframes we can ask the following question:
If Martin took 7 days of Probenocid at 3x500mg starting on 3/11 (likely started on 3/10 actually) how likely would he be to still have it in his blood at the Derby event?
The half life of probenocid is 3-8 hours at that dose and the derby event started on 3/31. Using 3/17 as the last day that he took the probenocid and assuming a 8 hour half-life how likely would he be to still test postive on 3/31 (14 days later)?
Calculating the total does and the halflifes we estimate that on March 31st he would have had ~0.0000000003mg in his entire bloodstream (ie 0.3 Billionths of a miligram) in his entire body.
So in a 50ml draw of roughly (1% of average human total blood supply) there were likely no more than 0.000000000003mgs of Probenocid in this sample.
I do not know that the limit of detection is for the WADA testing but that seems astronomically small amount and I am not certain if that low of a concentration would even be able to mask other agents. So despite feeling bad for Martin I think it is a bit suspicious that he would still have tested positive on 3/31. That does not prove he was masking anything but it is a bit suspicious.
Oh and to the idiot who said the doc should have switched to a broad spectrum antibiotic, no the primary oral class are fluoroquinolones which can permanently destroy your tendons, nerves, heart etc.. As someone who took 2 doses 7 months ago and cannot hardly walk and am in chronic pain (no mtn biking anymore either), I applaud his doc for sticking with a narrow spectrum antibiotic.
The UCI did exactly what they should have done, and it's GT that has let Martin down immensely here. If they had done their due diligence when they were back in internet coverage they could have applied (and would have been granted) a TUE. Applying for one 12 days after a failed drug test? That's just lazy.
Seems like a TUE could/should have been applied for, or a request made to have a backdated TUE if this is still allowed. This is not a case of doping, or an attempt to mask other PEDs IMHO and the punishment is super harsh.
GT took 12 - TWELVE - days AFTER they were told of a failed drug test before they applied for a TUE. They didn't do it a week after the race, they didn't do it until nearly 2 weeks AFTER he failed the test; which was 7 weeks after the race.
Both of these doping cases have been a disappointing blow to my own motivation to race. I had always dreamed of making that next step, I've been close and it's huge motivation to train hard, especially when you find most of your time gaps come down to the sprints.
As a 9 to 5'er (more realistically 8-7'er..), it can be extremely challenging to commit to training this hard, as most of Pinkbikers will know. You sacrifice a lot. When doping infraction after doping infraction come out from these people who are on this next step, it really brings things into question. Yo, who is known for putting nothing but water into his body even once mentioned that the start of the top 30 men is like stepping into a pharmacy.
Yes, it's unfortunate for both Jared, Richie and Martin.. But do we just blindly trust that all these incidents are nothing? I have a friend who is close with Richie and is very offended that I consider him a cheater. And in this case with the limited information released, it's very hard to trust that it was accidental as well. A team's doctor would be smart enough to not prescribe one of the better known masking agents... and definitely smart enough to file for an exemption if it was truly required.
Are the UCI the evil ones for punishing these multiple "accidents" from the top of our sport or is enduro really just a dirty sport? It's really hard to trust either side of the story...
Hopefully, the athletes are much better with ensuring that no controlled substances enter their body, and if they do... there's good enough reason and knowledge applied to prevent this type of scenario from happening.
As far as I get the story JG didn‘t take anything intentially nor was he passing his bottle to RR to do any harm.
Yes, information were given poorly and it sounds like a cheesy excuse but I can not find a big difference from Martins or Richies perspective.
I am bumned for both !
Furthermore, in the case of Maes I believe it is very clear that he took the specified substance on the advice of a medical doctor to treat a legitimate medical condition. It was not the case of dubious supplements being involved. I think it is very much the case that Maes would’ve certainly received the TUE had he applied for it before registering an AAF.
I see what you did there.
What to learn from this situation? UCI needs to provide all medical staff with a full and easily accessible list of prohibited substances. Maybe design an app for that, I mean it's 2019 folks, there are apps for everything. If medical staff judges the prescription of a prohibited substance (with the app they can check, maybe there's even an alternative substance, not on the list) necessary for the medical treatment, the athlete has to provide a urin sample AHEAD of the prescription and the first dose of that substance. I know, analysis takes time, but that does not matter here. Athlete takes his medication as he was told be the doctor. Also he provides several more urin samples after the end of his treatment. If the initial urin sample turns up positive on anything, ban him.
After a certain time of the treatment, the follow up urin samples should be clean of the prescribed substance. In that case let the Athlete race. If anything turns up, ban him.
I know this costs time and money, but if you want clean sport, healthy riders and avoid situations like this one you have to come up with solution.
You would think the team would have some kind of foresight to have 1 person responsible for checking these things. Professional cycling is tainted enough, and most teams have atleast physios/massage therapists/trainers with them, this should fall in their job description.
Can the UCI hire me now?
Many people (and expecially something like the suggested app) rely on the internet for even the most basic information. Cut that of and no one knows anything anymore and sometimes isn't even able of doing their job. At least the doctors were still capable under those circumstances.
However this is their livelihood, they need to be better, blaming lack of internet is akin to "my dog ate my homework".
Aimed at the trainers/manfriends: print a copy of the banned substances list and do your job.
I can't fault Maes or GT for not applying for a TUE, a Doctor acting on behalf of the UCI prescribed the medication and assured them (in error) that it was not a banned substance. They did everything right, and a race official made a massive error. The solution is for UCI for come up with better way to inform their people, not to wreck Maes season.
Now EWS, stand up for your athletes here. Won’t change the outcome, but strengthen a lot of support.
Martin Maes, EWS championship out for this year (next year win them all) so let’s see you crush a few DH races after this BS is behind you
*move on - there is no conspiracy theory around here*
From WADA website:
There are situations for which TUEs may be granted retroactively. The evaluation process is identical to the standard TUE application procedure i.e. the TUEC evaluates the application and issues its decision. The ISTUE stipulates which situations may result in the granting of a retroactive TUE, as follows:
Emergency treatment or treatment of an acute medical condition was necessary*; or
Due to other exceptional circumstances, there was insufficient time or opportunity for the athlete to submit, or the TUEC to consider, an application for the TUE prior to Sample collection; or
Applicable rules required the athlete or permitted the athlete to apply for a retroactive TUE. This is applicable to Persons who are not International-Level or National-Level athletes (Code Article 4.4.5) and (where the relevant NADO so chooses) to National-Level Athletes in sports specified by the relevant NADO (ISTUE Article 5.1 Comment); or
[Comment: Such athletes are strongly advised to have a medical file prepared and ready to demonstrate their satisfaction of the TUE conditions set out in ISTUE Article 4.1, should an application for a retroactive TUE be necessary following Sample collection.]
It is agreed, by WADA and by the ADO to whom the application for a retroactive TUE is or would be made, that fairness requires the grant of a retroactive TUE.
*A medical emergency or acute medical situation occurs when the athlete's medical condition justifies immediate Administration of a Prohibited Substance or Method and failure to treat immediately could significantly put the athlete’s health at risk. It is always preferable to address a TUE application prospectively rather than retrospectively. ADOs granting TUEs should have internal procedures to expedite the evaluation and granting of TUE for emergency situations, whenever possible, and without putting the athlete’s health at risk.
The race was in March - what was the team doing till May 21st? Ignoring their cell phones and the internet?
They were informed May 21st of the failed test and it STILL took them 12 days to apply for a TUE.
I hope GT is apologising to Martin, because it's their apology he should be getting, not the UCIs
Also injury happened on the 8th and racing was on the 10th, why did they not look it up before that time and realises that he had taken something banned and then not race and EWS wasn’t until the 24th and they still hadn’t looked it up but apparently both were concerned about it, Such Bullshit.
Now, many years later, I have a career that often has me working for long periods of time without phone or internet access. It is still my responsibility to know the laws and regulations that govern my profession. I just checked WADA's website and "the list" and TUE for are available has a pdf to download. That took less than 30 seconds. These documents should have been downloaded prior to the EWS season. The lists should have been checked and the TUE submitted long before it was in this case.
At the least this speaks to very poor management of Maes' team. Perhaps this is merely a case of poor knowledge of the system, perhaps not. Fans, sponsors, and team owners should expect more from their athlete's and teams than weak excuses. Unless of course they want to win at any cost.
Unfortunately no-one truly looks out for you in this world, so you're best of looking out for yourself. I genuinely hope this was simply bad luck for Maes. He did have to do what he needed to do for his health. He also needed to make sure his career was properly taken care of afterwards as well. Filing the TUE isn't the doctors responsibility in this case. Nobody has to like the rules, but for the moment they are the rules and when you're elite among elites, you better make sure you know the book.
www.groundup.org.za/article/daryl-impey-very-unusual-case_2192
It's OK to not know what's in a substance when you're in the race was in March and the test came back positive May 21st. Why didn't GT check the substances used before then?
Here we have an athlete with a perfectly legit reasoning for the ingestion, including a doctors testimony and prescription and even the application for a TUE, which ironically was declined by the UCI.
So given these facts, imho it´s simply down to the UCI´s incompetence and noone should ever be happy to not get screwed too bad by a governing body, just because it could have been worse, if they didn´t do anything wrong.
I understand where you´re coming from with the TUE excuse, but then again denying an athlete a TUE on that basis opens up a whole other can of problems, because it forces athletes to neglect their health if they want to compete. TUEs exist for a reason, so for the UCI to not issue them pushes the sport into dangerous territory imho.
You´re right, i somehow read that as 9 months for some reason.
Still as you say, vacating the wins is harsh given that he basically was given the choice to loose a leg or (potentially) loose his carreer. It´s just shitty how the uCI dealt with it, if this is really how things went down.
(Sidenote: Fantasy Team updated)
2) Have them get dressed up in brightly colored spandex (Which is they’re normal dress code) put em on spindly bikes with really long downward facing stems and flat bars, raise their seat posts really high (so they can be in their comfort zone ya know) give em about 10 shots of espresso a piece along with a few goo packs and send em out into a remote location with no cell service on highly technical DH terrain. Upon sustaining the multiple inevitable life threatening injuries deny them treatment or make them pay a fine for taking a banned substance. 3)Tell them to get the hell out of governing MTB races and riders because they clearly know nothing about the sport. This is just plain wrong. Is there an address where you can send a letter of complaint to these spandex clad over caffeinated weirdos? Honestly.
I get that the athlete is in charge of what he takes and what not. But their business is racing their best, not knowing the whole index by heart. Proper BS decision and gutted for Maes!
If the TUE is genuine I wonder what is wrong in UCI or WADA.
I do find that these guys (pro racers all disciplines) always have a ridiculous amount of weird medication no one I know in Québec (include me) ever gets for similar or worst injuries that obviously doesn't prevent them from racing world class level. Only thing banned I saw was a couple pills of cortisone low dose.
Maybe its that the idea is to keep them from actually racing and recover well, for their own good.
Antibiotics work in a way to kill bacteria, not in a way to increase endurance, focus... perhaps some might, however the down-affect of any antibiotics is a diarrhea (kills also good bacteria in intestines) which I can imagine is not commonly associated with increased performance (loss of water, minerals... you name it).
Just to think about: UCI limits should failed on drug test, due to their increasing "performance" (in next 10 years with that pace there will be no riders left just because of one molecule out of a gazzilion)
coachsci.sdsu.edu/csa/vol56/rushall5.htm
"Small traces of this banned drug indicate therapeutic use, large traces indicate cheating. Only foolish individuals would use Probenecid for cheating purposes given the testing capacities of IOC accredited laboratories around the world.
The small amount detected in Australian swimmer Richard Upton's urine and the absence of any other banned substance is proof-positive that the drug was taken for therapeutic purposes rather than to distort test results (cheating). However, despite this information since Probenecid remains on the IOC banned substance list, Richard Upton was severely punished by two different Australian sports authorities even though the therapeutic use of just one day's dose by an attending physician was documented and freely admitted.
The criteria for evaluating the existence of Probenecid in athletes' urine samples need to be changed to avoid unjust punishments like those that have been recently handed down in Australia."
I wonder if the amount of Probenecid detected in Martin's test was considered in the WADA decision. And how long does it stay in one's system after stopping it?
Timing of the TUE application in this case couldn't have helped.
14 Days later at Derby though? The concentration in his blood sample had be less than 0.000000000003mg. So either UCI do not even care about the level in the bloodstream (ie any at all and you are banned=stupid) or Martin was taking Probenecid significantly longer than March 17, which would be suspicious.
Would be really nice for UCI to discuss this.....
Article says: "Richie Rude was judged to have ingested Higenamine and Oxilofrine accidentally and has now returned to racing after an 8 month ban".
Mayes is really a victim of this tightening.
I feel so sorry for him , he is a fine rider and from what I’ve witnessed from a far an even finer fellow.
If people hadn’t cheated in the first place we would not need these rules and common sense would provale .
I really hope he is able to go on and win many more races
Now, this may seem unfair, but let’s take a step back to perhaps the biggest cheat of all time: Lance Armstrong. Armstrong and his medical staff conspired to abuse the TUE system in order to explain away AAFs. The most famous case is that of the “corticosteroid chamois cream” for which Armstrong had an extremely dubious prescription and was subsequently granted a TUE after he returned an AAF. As we all know, some years after this (14 to be exact), it came to be known without a doubt that Armstrong was the biggest cheat in cycling of all time. However, Armstrong is not the only one to have abused TUEs in order to cover up his cheating. Numerous other convicted dopers have tried, sometimes successfully, often unsuccessfully, to get TUEs to cover for their doping activities.
If you want to blame Martin Maes’ suspension on anyone, blame it on the cyclists and athletes who came before him and abused the protections that WADA had in place for athletes to take specified and banned substances when a therapeutic need arises. If it was not for the flagrant abuse of TUEs, I strongly suspect we would not be here today where an athlete who did nothing wrong (except perhaps not have a copy of the banned and specified substances list) gets a 90 day suspension.
Wait, what? I had Maes on MY team? Forget what I said.
At some point 'intention' matters for fools. They should have fined him $500-$1K and been done with it.
I'll be cheering for Maes.
I think the blame lies entirely with the doctor. He said himself hes been in the job for 15 years, so claiming "he didnt know it was banned" simply isnt good enough. There may have been no signal at yhe event, but given that he had the drug in his kit, he obviously could have checked its status while preparing the kit.
The uci should have, and enforce, a zero tolerance policy on doping. While i like maes and feel for him in this situation, i agree with the uci decision. If anything i think it is lenient
The drug, WADA, rules are kinda whacked to not allow the exception for his injury.
These riders risk so much, then stuff like this happens.
Can he race DH with this suspension?
Now that would be a good move
JP
We have reached next level absurd. The UCI is certainly making Enduro great again.
We are only missing UCI statement to make it perfect. Pinkbike title could be a bit more favorable (more focused on the leg injury). It would also be nice to get more info about probenicid and why it's a masking agent. With all the side of the story, I'm more likely to believe.
This case also outlines how terrible is Richie Rude PR effort! Why in his case, it was so slow and there are no genuine statement from every parties..
Anyway, it's all very sad because it really damages the sport and the trust fans have for the athletes.
I also think that if the EWS races were 35km with 1200 meters of climbing, vs 60km with 2000+ meters of climbing the riders would be less inclined to dope... the events are too long and too hard and the brutal nature of them encourages a doping culture.
This decision makes the UCI appears foolish rather than a competent governing body.
Hmm...as a former ER and trauma nurse, don't think we've ever given anyone an oral medication for a leg cut....unless it was antibiotics. Not to mention a small laceration has minimal effect on performance. That "excuse" in and of itself is ridiculous.
*changes the fantasy team*
Cynical me thinks the uci denied the tue to make mtb and enduro look bad. But that's just me
Why would a trained EWS / UCI or whatever kind of doctor he was be carrying a banned substance?
Anything is possible and i am not accusing / blaming anyone or anyside, but sometimes the proof is right in the pudding and remember that there is always 3 sides to a story!!!
"As of January 1st, 2020, water will now be a banned substance on the WADA list." - UCI
Being properly hydrated with H20 has have a greater effect on one's performance than Probenecid. Ban water.
The UCI ruling seems heartless too me.
Save to your phone and if you are prescribed anything, before you pop the pill or say ok Dr just so a search. If it’s on the list “say anything else I can take instead, I can’t take this when I’m racing, banned”.
How hard is that?
Don’t need a phone signal either.
UCI - Same as above. Why wasn't there a paper list present for doctors to review? Most races are in remote locations. Depending on a cell signal is shameful. Representatives need to be on site to make real time decisions.
GT / Maes - EWS and UCI take no responsibility for their rules only enforcing them as they see fit. Demand personnel be on site. A TUE should have been granted on site.
Shameful... When UCI decides the result of a series and changes the results in a situation like this the sport is lost... Maybe UCI should just focus on banning paying card holding riders from participating in E Bike races...
Well that's a relief, lucky everyone knows about this halfway through the season...
On a different note @brianpark what will happen with the fantasy team results?
That said, why isn’t there an app, or email, or something with an exhaustive list provided to every racer and Dr. before the series starts up?!?
Why everyone seems to think it’s hard to know what’s banned or not when anyone can download this pdf to their phone to do a search to check is beyond me.
www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/wada_2019_english_prohibited_list.pdf
It’s the sort of thing I’d expect any pro sports person to have in their personal phone and get a new copy of before each race, it’s what 10 seconds of effort to save all the bullshit ?
I'm sure all parties involved (and anyone observing not practicing it already) will follow that (or something similar) protocol moving forward.
late 80’s. He received no sanction.
Me: " Gimme whatever you got in that bag of drugs, Doc, and make it snappy!"
does it mean that kegan and nicolai take the wins instead ?
Summary: He was treated on site, the treatment was ineffective. If it really was a risk of limb, they would have shipped him out of the area for a higher level of care, so I'm calling BS.
My opinion: They knew it was banned, they took a chance, and they lost.
Madness.
I'm sure you're gonna say no, we don't have any pull, its all up to the UCI, because that's the formal, party line agreement. Nonsense. You all know each other and can talk about this, and this situation stinks like a rotten fish.
He had a serious, life and limb threatening wound infection in his leg as a result of an accident. He sought medical attention from a well known and well respected volunteer physician not affiliated with his team. He failed first line antibiotics. The wound got worse and he became septic. They increased the narrow spectrum antibiotics and enhanced the effectiveness of the medicine with probenecid. Someone failed to look up the info. He failed the test.
As MM himself has said, hopefully we can all learn from the mistakes made here on all sides. But I think the penalty is unfair and the EWS knows it and has rolled over.
Surely if prescribed by the race doc then the liability is with him.
where the judging wave of haters?
Okay, I get that the test comes back positive and the TUE is applied as an explanation for the positive result resulting from treatment of the March injury but that is bolting the stable door when the horse has left.
Have the injury, get the treatment, apply for TUE after the injury weekend keeping everything upfront and open. GT is a big team, Martin is a big rider with lots of experienced people around him, this should have been dealt with in a correct manner.
Martin is also on fire & scoring some amazing results before & during the period of the positive tests.
Do I think Martin is a dope cheat? No, I think it's a situation that didn't need to happen in this way and could have been avoided completely if dealt with correctly. But then again I've thought that before with other athletes across all the sports I follow or participate in.
I don't ever remember Richie Rude having haters before his implausibly explained doping ban. Martin Mae's case is anything but implausible.
I cant stand Rude & Graves!
This just confirms they didn't do it accidentally as they were not given a trivial 90 day ban!
They should be stripped of all points for supporting him!
So I blame the real dopers, the ones that have been doing it for many years, and have forced the UCI to make rules like this.
Obviously I wasn't clear enough, as I managed to beat my record of downvotes