Just days after USADA suspended Masters cyclist Neal Schubel for using EPO, today the anti-doping agency announced the suspension of 38 year-old Chuck Coyle. Coyle is a long-time racer based out of Boulder, CO, and up until today he raced for and was a part owner of the prominent Hüdz-Vista Subaru cyclocross team. Upon learning of his two-year suspension from competition, Coyle also gave up any ownership stake in the team.
According to the USADA in a press release, “Charles ‘Chuck’ Coyle, of Boulder, Colorado, has accepted a two-year period of ineligibility for an anti-doping rule violation based on his purchase, possession and use of synthetic erythropoietin (EPO) and insulin growth factor (IGF-1).”
The suspension runs for two years, but Coyle’s results will be purged dating back to June 13, 2007, when the USADA says the doping violations began, according to evidence the organization has obtained. Much like with Neal Schubel’s suspension, Coyle was confronted with gathered evidence and did not fail any drug tests. According to USADA, “…[Coyle] accepted the penalty after investigators presented evidence of purchases of illicit performance-enhancing drugs dating back to June 13, 2007. Under UCI and USADA rules, Coyle will be required to return any prizes earned since that date.”
“Chuck called me as soon as the story broke today, which was shortly after he left the USADA. He told me his side of the story, and said that obviously he was not going to be racing any more, and that for the good of the team he was surrendering his ownership interest,” said Lance Johnson, Hüdz owner and director of the cyclocross team. “No one has provided our team with the specifics of this case, so we cannot comment on them. Ultimately they relate to events that would have transpired before we had even formed the team, so they have nothing to do with our program.”
“Without question, there is no room in our program for doping, cheating, grey areas or anything else that is less than sporting. Those of us running the team are unwaveringly passionate about cyclocross and the future of the sport,” continued Johnson. “We celebrate the juvenile joy of getting muddy, the purity of intense suffering, and ultimately one racer on one course doing their honorable best. Hüdz and the team will continue to support cyclocross and cyclists everywhere who are doing it the right way. We’ll fight for the future of the sport and do everything we can to see that cyclocross stays clean.”
In 2007, Coyle rode for the Successful Living professional road team. Before that, he had a long stint with the elite Boulder-based Vitamin Cottage team.
