Toon Aerts has chosen not to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and will accept his two-year suspension. However, he has voiced criticisms of the international cycling federation in his “final statement.” “We have arrived at this point after a year and a half of legal battle, now being portrayed as someone who cheated. This situation is painful and does not appear fair.”
Last week, Toon Aerts finally received information from the UCI after a long and comment-filled period. Unfortunately, the news was unfavorable, as the Belgian cyclocross rider was found guilty of violating an anti-doping rule, specifically through the use of the prohibited metabolite letrozole.
As a result, Aerts will face a suspension until February 16, 2024, as announced by the international cycling union. The UCI statement highlighted that Aerts was unable to establish his innocence during the process.
“I had to wait a year and a half for this verdict. During that period, I might have typed the word letrozole into Google 5,000 times… hoping to find the missing piece of the puzzle. But we didn’t find it. Where the hell did this come from? I still don’t exactly know how it got into my body.”
“Well, here UCI, a big and heartfelt middle finger. You could have made us the happiest people in the world last week. But then, who is Toon Aerts in the big cycling circus? I’m now closing this rotten period here for me, along with my family and staff.
Regarding the comeback in 2024:
“What comes next after February 16, 2024? We’ll see, but I’ll definitely be back. After 4 hours of riding with a power of 290 watts, I climbed La Redoute (a 1.6km Belgian ascent with gradients of up to 22%) on Thursday with an average of 480 watts. And that without Letrozole or any other product in my body. I will prove it! We hope to receive the appropriate apology one day.”