The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced today that Stephen Alfred of Capitola, Calif., an athlete in the sport of cycling, received a lifetime period of ineligibility for his third anti-doping rules violation. USA Cycling, the national governing body for the sport in the United States, will carry out the sanction, which commences February 4, 2008.
Alfred, 40, refused to take part in a USADA Out-of-Competition doping control test on November 26, 2007. Under the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the international federation for the sport of cycling, and USADA, both of which adopted the World Anti-Doping Code, athlete non-compliance with the applicable requirements regarding OOC Testing without compelling justification constitutes an anti-doping rules violation.
Alfred, who tested positive for the prohibited substance norandrosterone at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, subsequently tested positive for exogenous testosterone or its precursors and for an elevated testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) ratio in an out-of-competition test conducted by USADA on May 28, 2006, and also tested positive for hCG on June 10, 2006 at the Pan American Cycling Championships in Brazil. The May 2006 and June 2006 positive tests were considered one doping offense according to the World Anti-Doping Code.
USADA is responsible for the testing and results management process for athletes in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. USADA is equally dedicated to preserving the integrity of sport through research initiatives and educational programs.
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