{"id":310172,"date":"2025-11-27T11:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/310172\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T11:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:58:11","slug":"the-uci-know-i-did-nothing-wrong-toon-aerts-speaks-out-on-doping-redemption-and-lingering-uncertainty-over-positive-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/310172\/","title":{"rendered":"The UCI know I did nothing wrong\u201d \u2013 Toon Aerts speaks out on doping redemption and lingering uncertainty over positive test"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

He says he always feared the two lost seasons would permanently damage his level, but the European title proved something to himself as much as to others. \u201cFor a long time it was a huge question mark, but I can now say that I\u2019m back at my level. The life lessons of the past few years definitely contributed. I\u2019m far from burnt out, something that might start creeping in for other riders of 32.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did endless research\u2026 a needle in a haystack I\u2019ll never find\u201d<\/p>\n

Aerts admits he was consumed by the search for an explanation after letrozole was found in his urine following Flamanville in 2022 \u2014 research that eventually took a psychological toll.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil six months ago I was still working on it every day. I did endless research into the substance and what it was used for \u2014 apparently mostly in livestock farming. In the meantime I\u2019ve let it go: it wasn\u2019t making me happy. It\u2019s a needle in a haystack I\u2019ll never find.\u201d<\/p>\n

He still believes contamination is the only plausible explanation. \u201cI have two theories: either it came from contaminated supplements, or from that place in France \u2014 a year later it turned out that Shari Bossuyt<\/a> also tested positive there. But we weren\u2019t able to substantiate our suspicions enough to obtain an acquittal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even his much-discussed \u201cNormandy milk\u201d hypothesis was simply an attempt to impose logic on something that felt inexplicable. \u201cIs it a coincidence that something was found in both Shari and me? We don\u2019t know. But I have to look for the cause somewhere. Otherwise it\u2019s impossible to live with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ToonAerts<\/p>\n

Toon Aerts emotionally returned to the top with his European Championship victory<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know I did nothing wrong\u201d \u2013 Aerts on the UCI and the presumption of guiltIn one of the interview\u2019s most striking passages, Aerts insists cycling\u2019s governing body already acknowledged he had no intent to cheat: \u201cThe UCI<\/a> wrote in its report that it involved unintentional use. In other words: I never intended to ingest that substance. They know I did nothing wrong. That\u2019s also why they granted me a favour: my suspension was reduced from four years to two.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he is blunt about what that reduction really meant: \u201cWhether all of that is correct? You can ask questions about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he is equally clear about the impossible burden placed on riders who must prove a negative: \u201cI had to investigate myself how something I never wanted in my body ended up there. I\u2019ve never ordered anything from dodgy websites. Everything came from the team. I always tried to protect myself as well as possible and did what I thought was right. Still, something went wrong somewhere. If I\u2019d been able to prove in black and white what caused it, I\u2019d never have been suspended for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking the fight further was never realistic \u2014 financially or practically. \u201cAside from the financial aspect, an appeal wouldn\u2019t have achieved much. The UCI\u2019s final ruling only came after a year and a half. At that point I had only six months of suspension left. I wasn\u2019t going to throw thousands more euros at it. It had cost me enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI often trained out of revenge\u2026 anger solves nothing\u201d<\/p>\n

Aerts admits he initially returned to racing with fury in his legs. \u201cAfter my suspension I was initially convinced that it would soon become clear that everything was a misunderstanding. I often trained out of revenge back then. Even my first races, when I was allowed to compete again, I rode with aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he quickly realised anger was corrosive. \u201cI noticed that doesn\u2019t work: anger solves nothing. I shouldn\u2019t lower myself to declaring more war on the authorities that punished me. I have too much respect \u2014 respect they didn\u2019t show me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, he forced himself to accept that only he could decide how the story would continue. \u201cSuddenly I had to sort myself out and think and act like a real adult. Part of being an adult is not kicking back. Others had my fate in their hands: it\u2019s up to them to feel remorse now and to learn the right lessons so others don\u2019t become victims too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve shown the cycling world that I\u2019m back\u201d<\/p>\n

For Aerts, Middelkerke was the moment the weight of the last four years finally lifted \u2014 the moment he could look the sport in the eye again. \u201cI\u2019ve shown the cycling world that I\u2019m back. I\u2019m proud of that. And proud of the team around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And after everything he endured \u2014 the uncertainty, the financial damage, the suspicion, the search for answers that may never come \u2014 he is finally able to say he is leaving the darkest chapter behind him.<\/p>\n

Redemption, for Toon Aerts, isn\u2019t an abstract idea. It\u2019s something he had to win back, metre by metre, after nearly being driven out of the sport entirely.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" He says he always feared the two lost seasons would permanently damage his level, but the European…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,80956,37490,95982,138648,82,125227,15646],"class_list":{"0":"post-310172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-cyclocross","12":"tag-doping","13":"tag-european-championships","14":"tag-shari-bossuyt","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-toon-aerts","17":"tag-uci"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}