Andrea Iannone 'may have eaten contaminated food' as B sample reportedly tests positive for drug

Andrea Iannone has reportedly had his positive drugs test confirmed after a B sample showed traces of an anabolic steroid.

But Italian news reports say that the level of the drug in the Aprilia rider was so small that it could have been consumed in contaminated food.

Iannone has always denied doping.

“We will begin the appeals process as soon as the result is made official, and ensure that Iannone is reinstated at Aprilia,” his lawyer, Antonio De Rensis, told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“The analysis should attest to the presence of metabolites equal to 1,150 nanogram per millilitre — a small quantity considering also that the rider had been in Asia for over a month,” said De Rensis.

He added that Iannone’s post-race dehydration would have increased the concentration of the drug in the sample.

“It is a fact that supports the thesis of food contamination, also because steroids are taken with long, not occasional cycles.”

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• Andrea Iannone ‘surprised after failing MotoGP drugs test

Iannone was suspended from competitive motorcycle racing in December following a drugs test at the Malaysian MotoGP round.

The 13-time Grand Prix winner said that he was “surprised” at the result, which showed traces of Drostanolone, an anabolic steroid, in his urine sample.

But Iannone also said that he was “relaxed” and confident that the case would lead to a “positive conclusion”, pointing to numerous negative results from previous tests.

The reported result from the B sample means that he will struggle to resolve the matter quickly.

Iannone looks set to challenge the case at the FIM’s International Disciplinary Court where verdicts can take up to 45 days to be announced.

Testing in Sepang begins in 24 days, while the first Grand Prix of the season, in Qatar, begins in 60 days