Danielson tweets innocence after "positive" test

Cannondale-Garmin rider Tom Danielson has taken to Twitter today to deny any wrongdoing after he was told by the United States Anti-Doping Authority that he had tested positive for “synthetic testosterone”.

Tom Danielson of Cannondale-Garmin, pictured in 2013 at the USA Pro Cycling Tour (Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

Danielson had been in preparation for this week’s Tour of Utah in the US and claims to have received a call from USADA telling him an out of competition test taken on 9 July had come back with an adverse analytical finding.

“Tonight has been one of the worst nights of my life,” he tweeted, before giving details of the phone call with USADA.

“I spoke with them and my team and I will have to sit out the Tour of Utah as I wait for the B sample as well as look into all the possible ways that could have produced this result.”

Danielson has won the past two editions of the Tour of Utah, in 2014 and 2013, and was going into this year’s race with high hopes of a treble.

He did not race the recent Tour de France with the team, a race where his best result was an 8^th place finish in the general classification in 2011, the year Australia’s Cadel Evans took overall honours.

The 37-year-old American went on to profess his innocence on Twitter in no uncertain terms.

Cannondale-Garmin has yet to release any statement on the issue, and neither USADA or the cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, has put anything into the public domain in relation to Danielson's test.

In October, 2012, USADA suspended Danielson for six months after he admitted to doping during his time with Discovery Channel, a ban he accepted.

“I accept responsibility for my choices and apologise to everyone in my life for them – in and out of the sport,” he said via a statement at the time.

Today, he hinted back to those times with one of several tweets.