



Belgian cyclist Kevin van Impe was taken for a routine drugs test just as he was at the crematorium filling in administrative formalities following the death of his baby son, media reported Saturday.


The QuickStep rider was at Lochristi crematorium when a drugs tester turned up and demanded he provide a sample, warning that otherwise he could face a two-year suspension.

“He wouldn’t even come back later in the day,” van Impe told www.sport.be. “It was either do it right on the spot or it would be taken as if I had refused.”

Van Impe was arranging the funeral of son Jayden, born prematurely on Monday and who died just six hours later.

Asked to comment on the incident, Flemish minister for sport Bert Anciaux said authorities were to determine how better to organise random tests to avoid a repeat in such delicate circumstances.

“The law is the law but you must take a human perspective,” the Belgian news agency quoted Anciaux as saying. “I can well understand the rider had other things on his mind at the time of the test.”

BikeRadar would like to hear from you: are drug testers taking things too far in their pursuit for a drug-free sport?


© BikeRadar & AFP 2008