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Jonathan Tiernan-Locke banned for two years and sacked by Sky Jonathan Tiernan-Locke banned for two years and sacked by Sky
(34 minutes later)
The British rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke has been banned for two years after irregularities were found in his biological passport, an International Cycling Union document showed on Thursday. He features on a list of riders sanctioned for doping offences. His ban will end on 31 December, 2015. Britain’s Jonathan Tiernan-Locke has received a two-year ban for a violation of the UCI’s biological passport, the first time any British rider has been sanctioned in this way.
Tiernan-Locke has been stripped of his 2012 Tour of Britain title and his 2012 world championship results, and sacked by Team Sky. “Jonathan’s contract has been terminated today,” the head of Team Sky, Dave Brailsford, said. Tiernan-Locke’s contract was terminated immediately by Team Sky. He is the first rider in the team to be sanctioned for an anti-doping offence.
“While there have been no doubts about his time with us, his doping violation – from readings taken before he joined this team – means there’s no place for him in Team Sky. The Devon cyclist was hired by Team Sky at the end of 2012 after winning the Tour of Britain in dominant style, on top of victories in the Tour du Haut Var, Tour Méditerranéen and Tour d’Alsace. He has now been stripped of his victory in the Tour of Britain.
Sir Dave Brailsford, the head of Team Sky, said: “Jonathan’s contract has been terminated today. While there have been no doubts about his time with us, his doping violation – from readings taken before he joined this team – means there’s no place for him in Team Sky.
“We’ve a well-known stance on anti-doping and our action is the inevitable outcome of a violation. This is a team that trains, races and wins clean.”“We’ve a well-known stance on anti-doping and our action is the inevitable outcome of a violation. This is a team that trains, races and wins clean.”
Once hailed as a brilliant British prospect, Tiernan-Locke was withdrawn from racing last September after being questioned by the UCI over a discrepancy in his blood data. Tiernan-Locke then pulled out of the world championships road race in Florence. He has not raced since. The statement on Team Sky’s website read: “Anomalous readings in Tiernan-Locke’s biological passport were taken in September 2012, shortly before he signed his two-year contract with Team Sky and three months before his first race with the team.
The 29-year-old rider broke into the limelight in 2012, winning the Tour Méditerranéen, the Tour du Haut Var and the Tour of Britain while riding for the British Endura Racing team. “Prior to his signing, a number of factors – quantitative and qualitative – were properly considered. However, he had no biological passport to review until the spring of 2013, once the anti-doping authorities had collected the required number of readings.”
Sky said the discrepancies came from a period dating from 2012, before the rider signed for them. Tiernan-Locke barely raced for Sky in 2013, owing to illness, completing 39 race days, and news first broke that he had been notified of anomalies in his passport readings September that year. The UCI opened proceedings against him in December and a further delay in the case came this spring when his lawyers requested more time to make his defence.
Team Sky’s senior management has “reviewed” their recruitment processes, which were called into question after the Tiernan-Locke case came to light. They team has also appointed a compliance officer, a longstanding British Cycling employee and Brailsford’s one-time PA, Alison Johnson, to keep tabs on such issues.
The Tiernan-Locke case comes after the UCI president, Brian Cookson, was asked about the governing body’s procedures for announcing anti-doping sanctions after a biological passport case against the Russian Denis Menchov was revealed through an update to the list on its website.
Tiernan-Locke’s sanction was put through in the same way, in spite of Cookson’s assertion that “in a case that is of public interest, I think we have to announce it in a proactive way rather than in a reactive way”.