Britain's Simon Yates tests positive for banned drug

Orica-GreenEdge have confirmed that British rider Simon Yates failed an anti-doping control at Paris-Nice last month. They say that the 23 year old was using the substance concerned, Terbutaline, to treat asthma, but the team doctor failed to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption.

The 2013 points race world champion rides for the Australian WorldTour team alongside his twin brother, Adam, who is due to start the Tour de Yorkshire on Friday.

In a statement, Orica-GreenEdge said:

On April 22, the team was notified that Simon Yates has an adverse analytical finding from a test conducted at Paris-Nice, stage 6 on March 12, 2016.

The positive result is for the substance Terbutaline.

The substance was given to Simon Yates in the form an asthma inhaler and accordingly, this was noted by the team doctor on the Doping Control Form, signed at the time of the test.

The substance was given in an ongoing treatment of Simon Yates’ documented asthma problems. However, in this case the team doctor made an administrative error by failing to apply for the TUE required for the use of this treatment. 

The use of Terbutaline without a current TUE is the reason it has been flagged as an adverse analytical finding. This is solely based on a human error that the doctor in question has taken full responsibility for.

There has been no wrong-doing on Simon Yates’ part. The team takes full responsibility for this mistake and wishes to underline their support for Simon during this process.

The team is concerned by the leak of this information and has no further comments until there has been a full evaluation made of the documentation, statements and evidence that the team and Simon Yates are now submitting to the UCI in order to clarify everything.

The story was broken late on Thursday evening by the Daily Mail, which subsequently named the rider involved.

More to follow.