US masters racer suspended for EPO use

45-year-old Michigan resident Neal Schubel received a two-year suspension for EPO use, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced today. The rider from Saginaw was banned "based on his purchase, possession and use of synthetic erythropoietin (EPO)", the press release stated.

Schubel's sanction started on November 18, 2010, when he accepted the ruling, but dates back to August 1, 2006, "the date he first committed the anti-doping rule violation based on his prompt admission to USADA after being confronted with evidence in USADA’s possession".

USADA stripped Schubel of his results from August 1, 2006 onward. USA Cycling lists only a dozen results in that time frame - a mix of road and cross country events, the best of which was a fourth place in the Tour De Frankenmuth in 2008.