Fluckiger's case could be resolved in his favour

Mathias Flückiger's doping positive has marked the 2022 XCO season. It was reported just before the European Championships and left the rider completely silent after being suspended by his team and national team. Now, several Swiss media outlets point out that his defence could win the case by proving that it should not have been treated as a positive.

Mathias Fluckiger could prove that there was an error in procedure

Mathias Fluckiger's social media and press releases have remained inactive since the news broke. And although several cyclists and his former coach have expressed confidence in Fluckiger's innocence, from his side, we have only been informed by a press release issued by his communication team three weeks after the Zeranol positive.

Fluckiger's defence maintains that the values of Zeranol, a veterinary anabolic substance that is not used in Europe, shown in the sample were 0.3 ng/ml and were well below the minimum value (5 ng/ml) required by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to be considered positive. So they argue that their case should have been treated as an atypical result, never as a positive.

Swiss newspaper Watson.ch, reported this week that this claim, along with the fact that the B sample has not yet been opened, leaves the cyclist's defence in a good position as they are claiming a procedural error from the national authority Swiss Sports Integrity. It was in their high-precision laboratories that the sample was tested, they claim that in the vast majority of laboratories such a small amount would not have been detected, and they were responsible for treating the result as a positive case.

If the court finally rules in his favour, the process should be restarted by re-analysing the first sample, but if Swiss Sports Integrity refuses, the cyclist could claim compensation of up to 1 million Swiss francs.