Following this morning’s news that world sprint and team sprint champion Gregory Baugé has been disqualified due to three whereabouts violations, the UCI has officially confirmed that those who took silver behind him will now be named as winners of the events.
It means that Great Britain’s Jason Kenny will get gold for the men’s sprint and Germany’s trio of Rene Enders, Maximilian Levy and Stefan Nimke will become world team sprint champions.
Kenny only found out about the decision today and said that while he was pleased to be champion, that the circumstances were not the same as taking it on the day of the race.
“The news came as quite a surprise and whilst it’s an honour to get my first senior World Championship title, I would have preferred to have achieved it under different circumstances,” he said. “I am looking forward to riding the rest of the season wearing the rainbow jersey.”
While it’s Kenny’s first gold medal at the worlds, he was part of the winning team sprint lineup in the 2008 Olympic Games. He was also second to Chris Hoy in the sprint in Beijing.
The UCI has confirmed to VeloNation that the other medal slots will also be updated to reflect Baugé’s disqualification.
“The rules say all riders involved in the same round (the last one in this case) will be upgraded,” UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said. “So, the fourth will be third, the third will be second and the second will become first. The fourth place will remain vacant, the fifth doesn’t move.”
The rule means that Chris Hoy and Mickael Bourgain will now be the new silver and bronze medallists in the individual sprint.
Baugé, Michaël D'Almeida and Kévin Sireau lose out on the team sprint title, giving Enders, Levy and Nimke the rainbow jerseys.
Great Britain’s Kenny, Hoy and Matthew Crampton slot into second, and Australia’s Daniel Ellis, Matthew Glaetzer and Jason Niblett are promoted to bronze.
Baugé had one missed test and two problems with his whereabouts in an eighteen month period, constituting a violation of article 21.4 of the UCI’s anti-doping regulations.
He was handed a backdated suspension by the FFC last November, running from December 23rd 2010 to December 22nd 2011.
The ruling means he will be eligible to compete in the London Olympics.