No banned drugs in Paris-Roubaix vial found by fan

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The UCI announced today that analysis performed on a vial of white powder found on the road during Paris-Roubaix, dropped from a rider in the peloton who was involved in a crash, contained no banned substances.

Mike Brampton, the managing director of Thames Medical, was taking photographs on a corner when several riders crashed. The vial of pills fell from a rider's pocket, and Brampton retrieved it, posted a photo of it to Twitter and ultimately reported the find to UK Anti-Doping (UKAD).

UKAD worked with the UCI and the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation to have the substances in the vial identified by the Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses (LAD), and the report found the pain killer ibuprofen, the stimulant caffeine, quinine, which is thought to help prevent cramping, and theophylline, a substance found naturally in tea and cocoa that can treat asthma.

“None of those substances is part of the WADA prohibited list”, the LAD report stated, and “no doping substance could be detected in the white powder transferred by the UCI”.

UCI president Brian Cookson praised the cooperation between UKAD and CADF, stating that such a collaboration "makes our anti-doping programme as robust and efficient as possible".

UK Anti-Doping Director of Operations Nicole Sapstead said, “A member of the public, and by consequence the Report Doping in Sport hotline, played an integral role in ensuring that this information was passed on to the appropriate authorities to be properly investigated. We applaud all those who recognised that this was the most appropriate action to take in the pursuit of clean sport.

“Anyone with concerns, no matter what your involvement in sport, should use this as a case study and speak out by visiting www.reportdoping.com.”