On the eve of the 2015 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, two-time defending champion Tom Danielson (Cannondale-Garmin) has revealed on Twitter that he has tested positive for synthetic testosterone.

Danielson, who won the past two editions of the 2.HC-classified race ahead of Chris Horner, posted a series of nine tweets explaining the situation.

“Tonight has been one of the worst nights of my life,” Danielson tweeted. “While I was eating dinner with my team the night before Tour of Utah I received a call [from] USADA notifying me that a out of competition test I gave July 9th has tested positive for, from what I understand, synthetic testosterone.”

“I have not taken this or any other banned substance.”

Danielson has said that he will sit out the Tour of Utah as he waits for his B sample to be tested and to “look into all the possible ways that could have produced this result.” The American said he will have tests done on the supplements he takes to see whether they could be to blame for the positive test.

“I feel incredibly hurt, frustrated, and angry by this,” Danielson said. “I don’t understand how or why this happened and still can’t even accept this is true.”

“I love cycling. I love it so f$%^ing much. I love the races, the rides, the people, the businesses, I love it all. Nothing compares for me.”

Danielson served a six-month ban from September 1, 2012, to March 1, 2013 having admitted to blood doping while with the Discovery Channel team. That ban saw Danielson stripped of his results from between March 1, 2005 and September 23, 2006.

He referred to that today. “I would never ever take anything like this especially after everything I have gone through the last years. This makes absolutely no sense.”

The seven-stage Tour of Utah begins in Logan today.



Also see: Vaughters, USADA comment on Danielson’s positive case for synthetic testosterone