Irish Continental level professional cyclist suspended after EPO positive

An Australian-born Irish professional cyclist, Jesse Ewart, has been banned from cycling for three years after he tested positive for EPO (Erythropoietin) this year.

Ewart, who rode for the Malaysian-based Continental team Terengganu Cycling, returned an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) after a doping control test on January 26, according to Sport Integrity Australia on Thursday. EPO is prohibited at all times.

The 30-year-old is banned until 15 May 2027, with the positive test coming after he won stage one of the Tour of Sharjah, a UCI 2.2 ranked race, on 26 January, in the UAE.

All of his results this year up to his provisional suspension on 16 May have been struck from the record, including a second place in the mountains classification at the 2.1 ranked Tour de Taiwan, second at the 1.2 Bueng Si Fai International race, and another stage win on stage four of the 2.1 Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup Tour of Thailand. He has also been fined 7,000 CHF.

EPO, which boosts red blood cell production was the go-to drug of dopers in the 1990s and beyond, with its use supposed to be revealed via the Biological Passport. It has become rarer in anti-doping tests in recent years.

Ewart has spent his whole career at Continental teams, including six years at various Malaysian squads - Sapura Cycling and Terengganu Cycling. He has twice won the Tour de Singkarak, an Indonesian 2.2 stage race, overall.

Terengganu are yet to release a statement.

Earlier in September, Ilkhan Dostiyev, an Astana Qazaqstan Development Team rider, was fired after testing positive for and admitting to using the blood booster drug CERA. Both Dostiyev and Ewart have finished on the podium of the Tour du Rwanda.

"Mr Ewart’s three-year period of Ineligibility commenced on 16 May 2024," the statement from Sport Integrity Australia read. "Mr Ewart is ineligible to participate in any sports that have adopted a World Anti-Doping Code compliant anti-doping policy until 15 May 2027.

"He is also not permitted to compete in a non-Signatory professional league or Event organised by a non-Signatory International Event organisation or a non-Signatory national-level event organisation."

Last year, Ewart told CW: "When I first went to Asia I was an under-23 rider. I was racing in Italy with an amateur team at the time. In comparison, riding in Asia it was really fun and exciting compared to that. It was a lot more enjoyable at the time, I also had a couple of other mates who were doing it at the time. That's how I ended up here."