NZ cyclist banned for doping

Karl Murray won the Rotorua to Whakatane road race in 2009. Photo / Eastern Bay News

Former New Zealand cycling representative Karl Murray has confirmed he is the cyclist serving a two-year ban imposed by New Caledonia following a positive test to two steroids.

Murray, 40, was banned by the New Caledonian authorities last year but neither Drug Free Sport New Zealand and Cycling New Zealand were informed. Both bodies said they are investigating.

The New Caledonian anti-doping commission is understood not to be a signatory of the World Anti-doping Agency code, raising questions about whether the sanction can be applied beyond the French dependency.

Murray, a cycling coach who has trained elite cyclists including a 2014 Commonwealth Games rider, returned positives to testosterone and nandrolone in a random test at the 2013 Tour of New Caledonia.

In a statement, Murray claimed that the positives are a result contaminated supplements he was using. He said he privately had the supplement he still had tested after being informed he had failed the drugs test, and it was found to contain testosterone.

Murray said he outlined this to the New Caledonian authorities along with his belief that supplement contamination had also caused the presence of nandrolone metabolites.

"However, it appears they were not convinced that I could positively explain all of the test results and therefore imposed a two-year ban from participating in any UCI licensed events."

The ban runs from April 2014 to April 2016.

During the ban, Murray won the non-elite categories of K2 (around the Coromandel Peninsula) and the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge.

Cycling NZ said it understood the cyclist was not one of its members.

Murray said news of the positive drug results was a "shock".

"Under no circumstances had I knowingly taken anything illegal to improve my physical performance," he said.

Murray's full statement is here