Hondo awaits

By Susan Westemeyer

With the B samples of Gerolsteiner rider Danilo Hondo opened last Thursday at the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) laboratories in Madrid, team spokesman Mathias Wieland expects to hear the outcome of the results somewhere between "24 hours to 3 days".

31 year-old Hondo was suspended by his team last Wednesday after testing positive twice during the Vuelta a Murcia in March this year. It was revealed that the stimulant in question was the relatively unknown drug Carphedon, effective in increasing physical endurance and resistance to influenza.

Said the UCI's chief press officer, Enrico Carpani: "When we get the results and if they are positive, as experience leads us to believe they will be, we will notify the Swiss [cycling] association, which has jurisdiction over Hondo. [The federation] will have to declare the two-year ban, and they have a month to do that."

Under the ProTour Code of Ethics, Gerolsteiner would be required to fire Hondo immediately should a positive B sample be returned, which were opened in the presence of Hondo and his attorney. Furthermore, according to UCI regulations, the rider would be prohibited from signing with any ProTour team for another two years after the two-year suspension has been served, effectively spelling the end of his career.