April 29, 2017 (Saint-Prosper-de-Dorchester, QC) – Quebec road rider David Drouin, who signed with Silber Pro Cycling in January, has tested positive for a banned substance reports La Presse. The 21-year-old cyclist was subjected to a doping test at his home in the Beauce region on December 4. In January Drouin learned that traces of RAD140 were found in his system, although apparently the quantity detected was very small. The B samples returned the same result.

Protesting his innocence, Drouin is scheduled to appear before a Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES) hearing on May 15 in Montreal according to the La Presse report.

“RAD140 is an investigational selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) for the treatment of conditions such as muscle wasting and breast cancer, currently under development by Radius Health, Inc. (RDUS),” according to Wikipedia. There is also much written about RAD140 on body building sites where it is sometimes also referred to as Testolone and noted for its lack of side effects.

Despite his young age, Drouin finished a remarkable 10th overall at the 2016 Tour de Beauce riding in Canadian national team colours, leading to a tryout with Montreal-based Silber Pro Cycling as a Stagiaire at the Tour of Utah and the Tour of Alberta – but never actually road for the team as a fully signed rider according to Silber co-owner, Scott MacFarlane. The news of his doping infraction was revealed only days after the ink had dried on the contract which was immediately nullified.

“Drouin rode two races with Silber Pro as a Stagiaire in 2016, but was not part of the team as yet,” explained McFarlane. “Yes, he signed with us in January, but as soon as he did that, the news came in [that he had failed the drug test]. As per his contract, Drouin was immediately dismissed from the team before he had any involvement with us. He did not join our training camps, was never paid by Silber Pro, and never received a bike from us. I don’t want this to negatively affect the other riders on our team.”

Known as a climber, Drouin finished the WorldTour Grands Prix cyclistes de Québec in 44th and the Grands Prix cyclistes de Montreal in 83rd. At the 2016 UCI Road Worlds in Doha, he finished the road race with the same time as the U23 winner. At a Quebec Cycling Federation gala late in 2016, the FQSC honoured Drouin as “the most promising young male Quebec road and track cyclist.”

Pedal contacted Jacques Landry HP Director at Cycling Canada, Louis Barbeau at the FQSC, and Justin MacNeill, Communications Officer at CCES for comment on this breaking news. Both Landry and Barbeau said they have anything to add as Drouin’s case is still being heard by the CCES.

La Presse (French) here.