Impey cleared on doping charge

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Kevin McCallum Daryl Impey lost millions of rand because he was in the right place at the wrong time, he was told yesterday as he was absolved of the doping charge that threatened to derail the career of the first African to have worn the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Impey was informed in July he had tested positive for Probenecid at the South African Road Time Trial championships on February 6. Yesterday, a hearing held in Johannesburg found he had taken the banned diuretic, which is not performance enhancing but can be used as a masking agent, through a contaminated product bought at a pharmacist through no fault of his own. “It’s just utter, utter relief that justice has been done,” said Impey yesterday. “Everything that has happened… it’s never going to be rectified, but I knew I hadn’t doped.”

The solid facts were the evidence of a pharmacist in Durban. Impey had gone |early in the day to buy empty gelatine capsules to put bicarbonate of soda inside them for the South African road race championships.

Bicarbonate of soda helps buffer the effects of lactic acid. The pharmacist told him he didn’t have any capsules.

Later, the pharmacist found some capsules and called Impey, who went in the afternoon to buy them.

Shortly before the pharmacist served Impey, he had dispensed Probenecid to another customer. His hands had contaminated Impey’s capsules. At the hearing, till slips showing time and purchase from the pharmacy convinced the hearing Impey had not ingested the substance on purpose.

“When this news came out we were shocked,” said Impey. “I’m glad to restore the faith people had in me. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or even the right place at the wrong time, almost cost me my entire career. This puts bread and butter on the table for my family.”

Impey signed a clause |with Orica Greenedge, his Australian-backed cycling team, that he would repay his salary should he be found guilty of doping. It is a standard clause in the team contracts. Impey had been due to ride in the Tour de France this year and, while he would not put a figure on how much the doping charge had cost him, it is estimated to be several million rand.

Impey and his lawyers are considering whether to take action against the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids) after it delayed the announcement of his positive test until June 23.

Saids claimed the delay was due to the death of a lab technician, but at yesterday’s hearing, was vague on a seven-week delay when the results were known but not announced.

The Saids officials left directly after the hearing.

“The delay is inexcusable,” said Impey. “The amount of money I have lost is hard to quantify. It’s a huge loss of income.”

Impey was left out of the South African team for the world championships, but is hoping to be included.

He will head to Canada to race with his team.