Toon Aerts signs for new team as doping suspension nears end

Belgian cyclo-cross rider Toon Aerts has reportedly signed for a new team and intends to race again as soon as his two-year doping suspension ends in February of next year.

According to Het Nieuwsblad, Aerts has signed a new two-year contract with Deschacht-Hens-Maes, to start on February 16 once his two-year ban for the use of the banned substance letrozole, in January of 2022, expires.

• Read more: Toon Aerts found guilty of doping violation, banned for two years

Aerts, who previously rode for Baloise Trek Lions, was only officially found guilty of an anti-doping violation in August 2023, after a lengthy investigation by the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal, during which the 30-year-old maintained that he had tested positive due to contamination.

The positive test for letrozole, an aromatase inhibitor that can increase testosterone levels, was detected just before the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in 2022, where he placed sixth. That result, along with all his results from January 22 onwards, have since been stripped.

Despite Aerts’ attempts to protest his innocence, the UCI investigation concluded that he had "failed to establish how [it] entered his body" and handed him a ban.

Because Aerts had effectively self-suspended and been placed on ‘inactive’ status by his team from the date they were notified of the positive test, February 16, 2022, the duration of his ban was backdated and is therefore set to expire on February 16, 2024.

Het Nieuwsblad reports that Aerts could be back in action the very next day after his ban expired, with the Exact Cross Sint-Niklaas taking place on February 17.

Before his ban, Aerts was one of the most successful riders in the cyclo-cross field, winning back-to-back World Cup overall titles in 2019 and 2020. Since being suspended, he has been working part-time as a PE teacher.

During his suspension, another rider and Aerts’ compatriot, Shari Bossuyt, also tested positive for letrozole earlier this year, and is currently under investigation by the UCI, with no decision made yet. The pair share a manager. Bossuyt also maintains that her positive is the result of contamination, and Aerts has publicly supported the 23-year-old.