Impey was left out of the Australian ORICA-GreenEDGE team when it was announced yesterday and it has emerged his omission was due to his returning a positive sample for Probecenid during the National Championships in February.

"ORICA-GreenEDGE has been notified that Daryl Impey has returned an adverse analytical finding and has been notified by The South African Institute for a Drug-Free Sport that he delivered a positive A and B sample for the substance Probecenid after the South African Championships on February 6, 2014," said a team statement released today.

"The team would like to underline that it respects Daryl Impey's right to prove his full innocence and will not comment any further until the process has run its due course and final conclusion has been made.

"As per the team's code of conduct, Daryl Impey will not feature on the team's roster until the case has been closed and he is fully eligible to ride."

Impey, whose place on the team has been taken by British rider Simon Yates for the Tour which is due to get underway in English city Leeds on Saturday (July 5), became the first South African cyclist in history to wear the leader's yellow jersey in last year's race.

Impey became the first South African ever to wear the yellow jersey during last year's Tour de France ©Getty Images




The 29-year-old took the yellow jersey from team mate Simon Gerrans on stage six of last year's Tour and wore it for two days before eventual winner Chris Froome of Great Britain took it after winning stage eight.

Writing on his personal website following today's announcement, Impey claimed he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

"I am extremely distressed by the finding, as I have always raced clean throughout my career," he wrote.

"I remain confident I will be vindicated and proved innocent of any wrongdoing.

"Every result I have achieved to date has been because of hard work and dedication on my part."

This year's Tour de France is due to finish in Paris on July 27.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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