SA cyclist, 16, in dope shock

2005-01-24 21:17

Wilhelm de Swardt

Johannesburg - News that a 16-year-old cyclist has tested positive for the banned hormone, EPO, has sent shockwaves through the cycling fraternity.

Michael van Staden, who rode for the Northern Free State's ACIZ CPPA team last year, was tested during the South African under-16 tour in Ermelo last year. He ended fifth overall.

As far as is known, Van Staden is the youngest cyclist in the history of the sport to be found guilty.

Cycling South Africa found him guilty at a hearing in December last year and he was banned for a year, but it was suspended for two years.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Cycling Federation have apparently asked Cycling South Africa and South Africa's Institute for Drug Free Sport to re-open the case. It is thought they are unhappy about the sentence.

'Some one must take responsibility

The deputy chairperson of Cycling South Africa, Dave Bellairs, was upset on Monday that the matter had been kept quiet for so long.

He said: "I don't have all the facts at my disposal, but I think we will have to have an open discussion about South Africa's junior cycling activities.

"Someone will have to take responsibility for what has happened - maybe the parents, the cyclist himself or the coach or team manager," Bellairs said.

Chris Hattingh, one of South Africa's foremost experts in the use of illegal drugs in sport, explained that EPO was a hormone that stimulated the bone marrow to produce more red blood cells. The more red blood cells an athlete has, the more oxygen will be in his blood.

Hattingh said athletes had a pronounced advantage if they used EPO.

EPO is found naturally in a person's body, but modern tests can show if the levels have been stimulated artificially.

- Beeld