Having faced a further two-hour grilling at the Luxembourg Anti-Doping Agency (ALAD), Frank Schleck is likely to have to wait another six weeks to discover his fate in relation to his testing positive for Xipamide at this year’s Tour de France. The 32-year-old RadioShack-Nissan rider failed a routine drugs test on July 14 when traces of the diuretic were shown to be present – the drug, used for treating a range of conditions including hypertension is not a performance enhancer nor is specifically mentioned in WADA’s list of banned substances, but it can be used to mask other illegal substances. RadioShack-Nissan withdrew him immediately from the TdF and issued a statement that said: ‘It (Xipamide) is not a product that is present in any of the medicine that the team uses and the reason for the presence of Xipamide in the urine sample of Mr. Schleck is unclear to the team. Therefore, the team is not able to explain the adverse findings at this point. However, the team is fully determined to collaborate with the anti-doping agencies in order to resolve the matter.’
Having already appeared before ALAD on August 29 and October 15, Schleck has continued to deny any wrongdoing and maintains he did not take the masking agent.
