Capelle positive for EPO, but vows to clear his name

Ludovic Capelle (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) will not be starting in the Circuit Franco Belge next week after his team suspended him for testing positive for EPO in a race in Gullegem in June. Although Landbouwkrediet hasn't officially confirmed this as the reason for Capelle's absence from racing, Belgian newspaper De Morgen reported that this was the case.

According to the newspaper, Capelle's lawyer said that he would appeal on the basis that the test was unreliable, similar to the case of Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke, who was also cleared of an EPO positive recently. But the Disciplinary Commission of the Flemish Community, which heard Capelle's case on Wednesday, said that it was satisfied with the positive result, which was initially analysed by the Chatenay-Malabry lab in Paris and confirmed by labs in Gent and Cologne. Both A and B samples were positive.

Landbouwkrediet's team manger Gerard Bulens told De Morgen that he had no idea that Capelle had tested positive at all, until a journalist told him yesterday. "I hope that he is cleared, but if that doesn't happen, then he'll immediately be sacked."