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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1200048
IN THE WIND P42 Andrea Iannone "B" Sample Tests Positive T he 'B' sample Aprilia Mo- toGP rider Andrea Iannone submitted at the 2019 Malaysian MotoGP has tested positive, according to reports from Italian news outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport. However, the report notes the 'B' sample only contained small traces of the banned anabolic exogenous androgenic steroid Drostanolone, with Iannone's legal team citing food contamina- tion as a possible cause. "The counter analysis should attest to the presence of metab- olites equal to 1150 nanograms per milliliter, a small quantity, considering also that the rider had been in Asia for over a month and that the test, per- formed immediately after the GP, was relative to a urine sample very dense, equal to 1.024, due to strong dehydration after the race," the Gazzetta quotes Ian- none's lawyer as saying. Iannone tested positive to Drostanolone after a routine drug test at the Malaysian MotoGP on November 3, 2019, and was provisionally suspended pending the result of the 'B' sample test. The Italian former MotoGP win- ner now faces a possible four- year ban from the sport. "I have no plan B," Iannone said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. "The bike is my life. I am not a fool who plays it like this. I just want to get back on my Aprilia as soon as possible and overcome this mo- ment." Drostanolone is an anabolic exogenous androgenic steroid that was formerly used in the treatment of breast cancer in women and is now more common with bodybuilding activities that is injected into the muscle. This will form a crucial part of Iannone's defense, as bodybuilding and increased muscle mass are at odds with the slim physique required to be com- petitive in MotoGP. Iannone underwent a weight- loss program during the 2018-19 offseason alongside teammate Aleix Espargaro that was largely cardio-based and was a program constantly monitored by Aprilia. It's a very tough situation for Iannone, as he and his legal team must prepare and argue his case at a disciplinary hearing that may take up to 45 days to hear a verdict. Thus, it is likely Iannone will miss the Sepang MotoGP test in February at best and would require a lenient sentence if he is to make the first round of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship in Qatar on March 6-8. Aprilia now faces a conundrum of who to put on the second RS- GP machine alongside Aleix Es- pargaro for the pre-season tests and possibly the Qatar round, with test rider Bradley Smith or Czech rider Karel Abraham in the