Suspended German rider Patrik Sinkewitz has denied doping with human growth hormone, and has requested the analysis of his B sample.
“I can only say that I have definitely not used any banned substances,” he claimed to the Süddeutschen Zeitung newspaper.
The 30 year old said that he didn’t believe the news that he had failed a test. “At first I thought it was a gag, but then I was given it in writing.”
Sinkewitz is the first rider to have been found positive using the newly-refined test for Human Growth Hormone. Exogenous HGH has long been undetectable as the hormone is naturally occurring in the body, but advancements in analysis have made it easier to pinpoint when it has originated from an external source.
It was announced on Friday that his A sample was positive and his Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli team moved quickly to suspend him. It said that he would be fired if and when it was proven that he had broken the regulations.
He has requested the analysis of his B sample, although this almost always confirms the result of the first test.
According to the Süddeutschen Zeitung, Sinkewitz is seeking the help of an Italian Human Growth Hormone expert to try to clear him. “If they have found a substance in me, I need to clarify how this could be,” he said.
He previously tested positive for testosterone in 2007, but successfully halved his two year ban when he cooperated with authorities and implicated former team-mates and doctors. Michael Lehner, the lawyer who represented him then, has said that he was very surprised to hear that the rider had once again failed a drugs test.
“After his key witness agreement and his public confession, I was convinced that Mr Sinkewitz was [now] a clean athlete,” Lehner told dpa. “I would be very disappointed if I am mistaken in my assessment.”
The German National Anti-Doping Agency is responsible for the process, and will oversee the B sample analysis.
As a repeat offender, Sinkewitz is facing a probable life ban from the sport.