Westra Reignites TUE Controversy

Ex-pro claims he gamed system during career

- Vern Pitt & Henry Robertshaw

Recently retired pro rider Lieuwe Westra has given fresh ammunition to those calling for the overhaul of the therapeutic use exemption (TUE) system after his admission that he faked injuries to take banned drugs during his career.

Dutchman Westra, who retired at the start of the 2017 season, has admitted that he feigned injuries that allowed him to receive TUEs while riding for Vacansoleil- DCM and Astana between 2009 and 2016.

The TUEs allowed him to use cortisone, painkillers and anti-inflammatories, which are banned in-competition by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

“I received the TUE often with a feigned injury, for example an inflamed knee,” Westra says in his new book, The Beast: The Cycling Life of Lieuwe Westra, which is released next week.

“I shot [the drugs] into my own body to cycle faster, to grab prizes, to receive compliments. In my first professional year it became clear to me that no victories were achieved purely through hard training,” Westra admits in the book. “If you wanted to join the big boys, you had to push the limits of the permissible.”