Van Avermaet to go on racing despite doping ban request

PARIS (Reuters) - Greg Van Avermaet will not be suspended by his team after the Belgian federation requested a two-year doping ban against the classics specialist, BMC Racing said on Thursday.

Van Avermaet to go on racing despite doping ban request

(Reuters)





"The BMC Racing Team is aware of today's hearing by the Belgian Cycling Federation, Koninklijke Belgische Wielrijdersbond, in which Greg Van Avermaet appeared in relation to the investigation of Dr. Chris Mertens," BMC said in a statement.

"Based on information currently available to the BMC Racing Team, Van Avermaet will not be withheld from competition."

Earlier on Thursday the Belgian news agency Belga reported that Jaak Fransen, the Belgian federation's prosecutor, requested a two-year suspension against Van Avermaet who is suspected of having doped in 2012 with the help of Mertens.

Van Avermaet has admitted that he worked with Mertens but insisted he has not done anything wrong.

He finished third in two of the biggest one-day races of the season, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, earlier this month. A decision will be made by the Belgian federation's disciplinary committee on May 7.





(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Martyn Herman)


Share

1 min read

Published


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world