On Wednesday, February 7th, news broke that Antwan Tolhoek was provisionally suspended by the UCI, due to a positive doping test, where traces of anabolic steroids were found.
Tolhoek, 29, would race for the Portuguese team Sabgal-Anicolor in 2024 after failing to remain with the Lidl-Trek team. On the WielerFlits Podcast, Maxim Horssels, Youri IJnsen and Raymond Kerckhoffs discussed in detail what happened.
Doping with anabolic steroids coincides with trips to Thailand
“The country with the most anabolic steroids available in the world is Thailand. It is available in almost all pharmacies. Antwan spends much of the year in Thailand. He stays there about four or five times for long periods during the year,” says Youri IJnsen.
Raymond Kerckhoffs understands that possible explanations are immediately being sought for the Dutch cyclist’s positive anti-doping test. However, he wants to be careful about this.
“At first we quickly thought: how can Antwan be innocent? But the fact is that he tested positive. Of course, a second check is necessary. But this first sign is not good. Clearly something is going on.”
Obscure Portuguese team with doping cases
Did he knowingly take the drug? We don’t know that. It can be concluded that Antwan Tolhoek is unlucky. Maxim: “If we look at his last years, since he switched to Lidl-Trek he has been very unlucky.”
“He had a lot of injuries. In fact, he’s been like this since he started competing for Lidl-Trek. The only team he could go to, and we can agree on that, is an obscure Portuguese team.”
Team with a history of doping-related stories
Youri agrees with Maxim’s description of the Portuguese team. “I still remember the first time I heard about his transfer. I thought: oops, this is not the Portuguese team you would like to ride for”, (supposedly referring to Sabgal Anicolor, ed.).
“They simply have a dark past, with at least seven or eight cyclists who were caught by that team or have used doping. Now the team really wants to make a change, but this is still remarkable.”
Editor’s note
The Portuguese team, immediately after being notified by the UCI of the Antwan Tolhoek case, reinforced its stance in the fight against doping and issued a statement via Instagram. In the statement, the team reiterates that the cyclist did not belong to the team at the time of the test and also informs the cyclist’s immediate contractual termination.
