Belgian found to have taken recombinant EPO in August 16th out of competition test
Just when you think it couldn't get any worse for the Milram team, it does. The team is still frantically searching for a replacement sponsor for 2011, but the time seems to be long past at this point and in recent weeks, Milram has lost most of its star riders and last week, its bike sponsor. The latest bit of bad news? Roy Sentjens has been provisionally suspended by the UCI.
"The decision to provisionally suspend Mr. Sentjens was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Cologne indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of Recombinant EPO in a urine sample collected from his at an out-of-competition test on 16 August 2010," states the UCI in a press release.
Sentjens will now head to the Belgian Cycling Federation for the next step in the doping process ladder. The RLVB will decide "whether Mr. Sentjens has committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 21 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules."
This will likely come after Sentjens requests analysis of his B-Sample, or, if he decides to forego that right, the formal process heading toward a suspension will begin.
Sentjens has had a solid, if not spectacular season in his first and only year in Milram colors. The former Silence-Lotto moved to Milram in 2010 to bolster its ranks for the Classics. Sentjens rode ably in the Spring with a 40th at Gent-Wevelgem, 21st at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, 14th at the Scheldeprijs, and 39th at the Amstel Gold Race. More recently, and right around his positive test date - Sentjens finished 8th at the Dutch Food Valley Classic three days before the test, and then he took 17th at the GP Ouest France-Plouay, six days after the fateful test.