Katrina Nash got bagged for capromorelin in an out-of-competition test.  Her story - she was giving the drug orally to her dog in its last weeks.  A messy procedure and she got the stuff on her heads often, never thinking about it.  (Nor did the packaging contain warnings of transdermal absorption.)

This happened in the US.  Travis Tygard got involved.  Nash is a big name in the sport.  USADA had tests done to see if that mode of intake was possible.  Yes, transdermal absorption can be readily duplicated.  She was spared the 4 year sentence and had no race results removed.

Happy result but I (and Tygart) know the outcome for a lesser rider would probably have been very different.  Sounds like this might be Tygart's next mission - a fairer system that yes, bags the dopers but also spares those caught by the incredible web of drugs we have out there everywhere and how easily one can ingest enough to flunk a test with zero either intention or awareness.  I'd love to see Tygart take this on.  He is the man at the time, place and power to accomplish this, he's smart, he's persistent and he's passionate.  UCI cannot make him go away.

I've never been a fan of Nash.  She kept beating some of my favorites.  (Saw her race here in Portland CX.)  But the story of caring for her dog in its last days - a woman at the farmer's market I've gotten close to took me aside after her dog passed to tell me of his last months, weeks, days.  Right up to his passing in her arms. After writing that, I feel a soft place in my heart for Nash.  May this be a sad time that brings real change to the sport we love.  And may Nash continue in this sport as long as her love for it holds and may she be surrounded with love.

Dogs.  People.  Tygart strikes me as a bulldog.+