Cycling professional Michel Hessmann suspended after a positive test

The German professional cyclist Michel Hessmann from Münster has been suspended after a positive doping test. This was announced by his team Jumbo-Visma on Wednesday. It was “an out-of-competition check on June 14 in Germany”, explained Jumbo-Visma: “The product discovered is a diuretic drug. We await the results of further investigation. Michel has been suspended by the team until further notice.”

At the request of the FAZ, the National Anti-Doping Agency Germany (Nada) confirmed the case. According to a team report on Wednesday, Hessmann was found to have a so-called diuretic. These drugs are used to lower blood pressure, but also stimulate urine production and can thus contribute to weight reduction by dehydrating the body. You are on the anti-doping list.

In such cases, Nada does not necessarily issue a suspension. This happens automatically with positive tests for the “hard” doping substances such as anabolic steroids. The suspension in the current case was imposed by Jumbo-Visma.

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The 22-year-old Hessmann from the team of Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard made his debut on a Grand Tour at the Giro d’Italia this year after becoming European champion in the mixed relay in 2020. At Jumo-Visma, Hessmann, who was not in his team’s Tour de France squad this year, still has a contract until 2024. On August 6, Hessmann came for the Bund Deutscher Fahrrad (BDR) in the road race of the World Cup in Glasgow, he did not reach the goal.