Leleivyte and Schleck doping cases mean lost Olympic places
Lithuania, Luxembourg penalized in Olympics over positives
The men’s and women's road races at London 2012 Olympic Games each started with one rider fewer than originally planned due to International Olympic Committee rules barring countries from replacing riders who returned positive doping tests.
In the men's race, Luxembourg lost one spot due to Fränk Schleck's positive during the Tour de France. Schleck returned a sample positive for Xipamide, a diuretic, on July 14th. The B-sample confirmed the result a week later.
Lithuania's Rasa Leleivyte tested positive for EPO on June 12. The result was not announced until July 18, after Lithuania had named its team for the Games, naming her as its sole representative. Leleivyte’s positive test meant that her country had no starter in the women's road race.
The two countries will also lose their spot for the individual time trial.
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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.