January 19/06 8:22 am - Jeanson Receives Lifetime Ban & Retires

Posted by Editor on 01/19/06
 

Jeanson Receives Lifetime Ban

Montreal's La Presse newspaper is reporting that Genevieve Jeanson has received a lifetime ban from cycling after testing positive for EPO at the Tour de Toona in July. Jeanson holds a U.S. licence, following a battle with the Quebec federation (FQSC) after the 2003 Worlds in Hamilton, when she was not allowed to start the road race due to an elevated hematocrit level (she passed subsequent doping tests). The positive result from Toona would officially be her second, after failing to report for a doping test at the Fleche Wallonne World Cup in 2004 (while she did not test positive there, failure to appear counts as a positive).

The results were sent to the Review Board, where Jeanson and her lawyer denied the accusation, claiming that she had never taken EPO (suggesting that she produced a rare 'false positive', like recently vindicated Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke). However, the Review Board has upheld the result and applied the lifetime ban. According to La Presse, Jeanson has announced her retirement, but will appeal the decision to clear her name.