The women’s Canyon-Sram team have suspended Shari Bossuyt from racing after revealing she tested positive for the banned substance Letrozole.
Letrozole is primarily used to treat estrogen-sensitive cancer in post-menopausal women. A doping effect can be similar to taking testosterone, which is why it is on WADA’s prohibited list.
Fellow Belgian rider Toon Aerts tested positive for the drug in late 2022. He denied any wrongdoing and refused to accept a two-year suspension but has been unable to prove his case was sparked by contamination.
Bossuyt and her manager will hold a press conference in Belgium on Monday morning to explain her case.
Letrozole is considered a “specified substance” that does not require a mandatory provisional suspension and so Bossuyt was able to race as her case emerged. She rode Paris-Roubaix Femmes and on the track at the Canada Nations Cup event in late April.
Bossuyt and her manager have told Canyon-Sram that both her A and B samples tested positive for Letrozole and she now awaits a final verdict from the French Agence française de lutte contre le dopage (AFLD), who carried out the test on March 19 during the Tour de Normandie Féminin.
Canyon-Sram extended her contract on April 5 but have now put her on ‘provisionally non-active’ status.
“CANYON//SRAM Racing has a zero-tolerance stance towards any use of prohibited substances in accordance with WADA Anti-Doping Regulations. Adherence to the anti-doping rules is therefore part of all contracts between all riders and CANYON//SRAM Racing,” the team said in a statement issued early on Sunday morning.
“In accordance with its own anti-doping rules, the team has made Shari provisionally non-active for CANYON//SRAM Racing. The team is now waiting for the decision of the AFLD before taking any further action.
“We have a clear zero-tolerance stance towards doping in sport. We are in contact with Shari and her manager and await the decision of the AFLD,” Team manager Ronny Lauke said.
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