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PARIS, Aug 9 - Home rider Jimmy Casper tested
positive for the banned substance corticosteroid during last
month's Tour de France, the head of the French Anti-Doping
Agency (AFLD) said on Saturday. The substance can be used but only if accompanied by medical
authorisation, which the Agritubel rider failed to present, said
AFLD president Pierre Bordry. "Jimmy Casper tested positive for corticosteroids," Bordry
told Reuters. "The French Cycling Federation (FFC) is dealing
with the case." He is the fifth rider to test positive at the race. David Fornes, head of Agritubel, said Casper had medical
authorisation to use the substance until the end of May for an
asthma complaint but that he had failed to renew it. The team has temporarily suspended Casper as it awaits an
FFC ruling, Fornes told Reuters. Spaniards Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado tested
positive for the banned blood-booster EPO during the Tour de
France. Italian Riccardo Ricco, winner of two stages, also tested
positive for EPO. His Saunier Duval team left the race before
the 12th stage. Kazakh Dimitriy Fofonov was thrown out of the event after
testing positive for the banned stimulant heptaminol. (Reporting by Francois Thomazeau and Clement Guillou,
editing by Tony Jimenez)
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