Cycling: Yates should never have competed in Taupo: Drug Agency

New Zealand's Sports Drug Agency (NZSDA) wants steps taken to ensure no repeat of the Jeremy Yates cycling controversy in Taupo last month.

At their December meeting, the NZSDA agreed Yates should never have been allowed to compete at last month's Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, just days after being banned for two years by Belgian cycling authorities for having abnormally high levels of testosterone.

Yates' suspension didn't start until the following week, with national governing body BikeNZ saying there was nothing they could do to stop him competing.

Second placegetter Geoff Burndred was later awarded $2000, the equivalent of Yates' winning prizemoney, by race organisers after he complained about Yates' presence.

The NZSDA board expressed its concern that Yates was permitted to continue competing long after his positive test was known to Belgian authorities.

"This is not the way a credible system should work," NZSDA board chairman Dave Gerrard said in a statement.

"Once a serious offence has been proven there should be no question of other competitors having to compete against an athlete who has benefited from doping."

The agency has requested the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) to look into the case with a view to ensuring that "the flaws apparent in the handling of the affair are not repeated in the future".

Meanwhile Gerrard, recently appointed a member of Wada's medical committee, said New Zealand athletes are not getting the message about cannabis use.

The NZSDA agreed at its meeting that too many top athletes were using cannabis.

In the calendar year to date, the agency has entered 12 names on its register of athletes with doping infractions, seven of those results relating to cannabis, the NZSDA said.

"There is an ongoing debate about whether cannabis should be on the testing list but so long as it is there, athletes must understand that they are jeopardising their careers if they continue to use it," Gerrard said.

Meanwhile, the NZSDA accepted Olympic gold medal cyclist Sarah Ulmer's offer of assisting with the agency's anti-doping work.

Auckland lawyer Mike Heron was named as a new addition to the NZSDA board.

- NZPA