Belgian prosecutors recommend two year ban and 87,500 euro fine for Roel Paulissen

by Jered Gruber at 10:49 AM EST

Former World Champion suffers a blow to his defense that he is the victim of supplement contamination

The case of former Marathon World Champion, Roel Paulissen, took a turn for the distinct worse today when the Belgian Cycling Federation's prosecutors recommended a 24 month suspension and 87,500 euro fine for the mountain biker following two separate positive tests for clomiphene in June.

The recommendation does not yet officially constitute a ban, but it's certainly not a step in the right direction for Paulissen, who argues that he's the victim of contamination in a supplement.

"It is allowed for there to be a certain degree of contamination in supplements by the Belgian and European laws. There are producers who can easily get away with it," said Paulissen a few days before the ruling in an interview with Sporza.

The allowed for degree of contamination that Paulissen speaks of is a potential career ender for an athlete though, and it is in his situation, a victim of a contaminated supplement, that he sees similarities with cycling's biggest star, Alberto Contador.

"For an athlete though, that could mean the end of his career. I feel a bit like Alberto Contador, who is trying to demonstrate that a positive came through contaminated meat."

In Paulissen's opinion, the idea of doping with clomiphene is ridiculous, even with the knowledge that clomiphene has often been used in the past as a masking agent for steroids. Masking agent or not, Paulissen contends that the easy detection and the long half-life of the female hormone would make it a silly risk.

"Clomiphene is detectable. For me, it was found for the first time on June 6th, and then again, nearly two weeks later. If I wanted to dope, wouldn't I take a product that stays in my body for a much shorter period of time?"

The rider, who retired immediately upon notification of his two positives, has still gone to great lengths to prove his innocence.

"I spent a lot of effort building up my defense. I know what I'm talking about. I also know that I would be foolish to dope with clomiphene, even in the famous micro-doses the media is now so full of."

Paulissen now has a tense two week wait to find out what the ultimate ruling on his fate will be.

"I have enough evidence to prove that I did not knowingly dope. There is no reason to suspend me."

comments

Follow @Pro_Cycling

Subscribe via RSS or daily email