Gisveled Lejonen maybe dealt a severe blow for the 2020 Elitserien if top Polish rider, Maksym Drabik is found guilty of breaking the anti-doping rules in an ongoing investigation which has just gone public.
The young rider, who was still competing as a junior last year, failed a doping control on 22 September 2019, when racing for Betard Sparta Wroclaw in the semifinal of the Polish Ekstraliga. The club finished the season in second place losing the final to FOGO Unia Leszno.
According to Polish website Przeglad Sportowy, Drabik has admitted to taking a legal vitamin injection four days before the race, but the report says he had 500 ml in his system, way above the allowed 100 ml.
The club have said that their doctor administered the injection and are cooperating with POLDA, the county’s anti doping agency. A trial could take place in February and if found guilty he could receive a four year ban.
Drabik won the Junior World Championship again this year, after winning in 2017 and coming second in 2018. He had his best ever season in both Sweden and Poland where he scored an average of 1.971 (8th place) and 1.989 (9th).
If banned, the Pole will not be the first in current competition to be penalised for a drugs violation. In 2017 Russian, Grigorji Laguta was banned for two years for using meldonium, the same drug tennis player Maria Sharapova was sanctioned for using in 2016. The banned drug increases testosterone in the body.
Before that in 2014, a year after winning the Junior World Championship himself, current SGP rider Patryk Dudek was banned for the use of methylhexanamine, an illegal dietary supplement.
Poles Dudek and Drabik were coincidentally both 22 years old as the time of their allegations arose.
