PARIS: South African Daryl Impey has been cleared of doping and can return to competition, the ORICA-GreenEDGE rider and his Australian team confirmed yesterday.
The South African, the first-ever African to wear the Tour de France’s yellow jersey last year, tested positive in February for Probenecid.
Impey said in a statement that he had been able to prove a case of “cross-contamination”, adding that he had been “cleared of any fault or negligence”.
“Whilst I never disputed the lab results and the finding, I was put in a very tough position of defending my case due to strict liability,” Impey said on his website.
“That being said, and after already having to go back five months to try find out how this could have happened, I finally was able to prove that this was a case of cross-contamination and I was also cleared of any fault or negligence on my part.
“It has been definitely the hardest two months of my life. It has been a huge financial loss and has been tough on my whole family.
“But I was determined to show that I am clean and that I would never cheat to try get an advantage over my competitors. I am so relieved that this has now been proven.” Impey, 29, added that he hoped to compete in the world championships in Ponferrada, Spain in late September. AFP
