Murphy suspended for breach of drug rules

CYCLIST Conor Murphy was last night suspended from competition with immediate effect until midnight August 11 for contravention of International Cycling Union (UCI) anti-doping regulations.

After a routine urine test following the final stage of the Tour of Ulster on May 5, Murphy provided a sample that contained the banned substance, pseudoephedrine, at a level above the UCI reporting threshold for the substance of 25 micrograms per millilitre.

“Prior to the Ulster race I was prescribed a medicine for a chest infection by my doctor, which I did not realise contained a banned substance,” 20-year-old Murphy said. “With hindsight I should have checked with my doctor and the pharmacist that, as an athlete, the medicine was allowable for me to have taken,” he added.