The period of ineligibility runs from 11 June, 2002, the date the athlete was suspended.”The news that Wilkins, who set his first British record in 1997 and extended it to 66.64 metres in a minor meeting at Birmingham University a year later, had tested adversely for methandienone came out at the same time that another name was released in connection with the same substance, the British pole vault record holder Janine Whitlock.The 28-year-old Dewsbury athlete, who tested positive after raising her own record to 4.41m in winning last month’s Commonwealth Trials in Manchester, has until Tuesday to provide any additional data before a Drug Advisory Officer will determine whether she has a case to answer. If the answer to that question is yes, she will be suspended pending her own independent review. If the answer is no, she will be able to join the England team which starts competition in Manchester three days later.The adverse test Wilkins produced on 21 May was not the first time he had brought suspicion of cheating upon himself. When he took part in the AAA Championships and World Trials in 1999, he was found to be in possession of an underweight discus before competition got under way.A lengthy inquiry allowed him off with a warning, but several figures within the AAA were openly critical of the outcome.

In the wake of the inquiry, more stringent rules on the checking of equipment were introduced.. Almost all the doubts about Lance Armstrong’s ability to take a fourth consecutive Tour de France were swept away in 11 rising miles to the ski station at La Mongie yesterday, as the Texan produced another devastating climbing performance that saw him both take his 13th Tour stage and regain the yellow jersey he ceded 10 days ago in Luxembourg.As has happened every year since his first victory in 1999, the Texan romped home in first place in the race’s first mountain stage. With Heras forging a path through the tens of thousands of Basque fans lining the route as the Texan’s rivals faded, the only rider to remain with the two Postals proved to be the Once-Eroski leader Joseba Beloki.Unlike the rest of the other contenders, all of whom were probably grateful that the day’s ascent finished where it did rather than continue to the summit of the Tourmalet, the Once-Eroski leader succeeded in sticking to Armstrong. And despite Heras upping the speed even further on two occasions, in the final mile the Basque was still there.Consequently, Armstrong’s plans to reward his team worker by letting him take the stage were forced to change, as he explained afterwards. “For me, Heras was the stage winner, but with the time bonuses on offer [20 seconds for the first rider to cross the line] we couldn’t afford to take any risks.”After dropping behind the Basque to ensure his final attack had the benefit of surprise, the American then bolted across and ahead of Beloki to the far side of the road, finally crossing the line with one weary upward wave of his right hand in victory.Even so Beloki has moved up to second overall, just over a minute behind the new race leader, with the Basque’s team-mate Gonzalez slipping two spots to third place, 1min 48sec adrift.Beyond these three, though, Armstrong is already all but unreachable. The Lithuanian Raimondas Rumsas, fourth overall, is now over three minutes behind – the time traditionally considered to be a sufficient margin for any Tour leader to feel unthreatened – and the fifth-placed Santiago Botero is over a minute further back. None the less, the US Postal leader’s inability to outpace his own team-mate allows some of his rivals to remain defiant.”Armstrong is more accessible,” Gonzalez said.

“He’s the kind of rider who always attacks when he’s got the strength. Always.”Beloki, third in the last two Tours, backed up his team-mate, saying, “I am still aiming to win. Nobody here scares me.” Armstrong was cautious about his advantage, claiming that “the rest of my rivals are stronger this year”. While he has almost, but not quite, polished off the opposition on the first of the Tour’s six mountain stages, David Millar suffered.Still nursing a twisted rib muscle, the Scot started to slip backwards with 10 kilometres to go, finishing 54th, 7:23 down on Armstrong, and losing his lead in the best young rider’s competition.”It was a rough stage for me,” the Cofidis rider said. Abandoned: M Sandstod (Den) CSC; S Perez (Sp) Kelme; J Vaughters (US) Cr?t Agricole; J Kirsipuu (Est) AG2r Prevoyance.Leading overall standings: 1 Armstrong 40hr 47min 38sec; 2 Beloki +1min 12sec; 3 Gonzalez de Galdeano +1:48; 4 Rumsas +3:32; 5 Botero +4:13; 6 Azevedo +4:31; 7 Serrano +5:17; 8 Basso +5:22; 9 Mancebo +5:33; 10 S Gontchar (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo +5:35; 11 T Hamilton (US) CSC +5:38; 12 Jalabert +5:53; 13 Sevilla +6:38; 14 Heras +6:49; 15 L Leipheimer (US) Rabobank +7:14; 16 Lelli +7:21; 17 N Vogondy (Fr) FDJeux +7:25; 18 A Peron (It) CSC +7:26; 19 C Sastre (Sp) CSC +7:39; 20 I Nozal (Sp) Once +8:00. Selected: 27 D Millar (GB) Cofidis +9:28.Points standings: 1 E Zabel (Ger) Deutsche Telekom 213pts; 2 R McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco 210; 3 O’Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 157; 4 B Cooke (Aus) FDJeux 148; 5 Jan Svorada (Cz Rep) Lampre 119.Mountain standings: 1 P Halgand (Fr) Jean Delatour 57pts; 2 Jalabert 46; 3 Armstrong 44; 4 C Mengin (Fr) FDJ 42; 5 Beloki 36.

Team standings: 1 ONCE 122hrs 30min 21sec; 2 US Postal Service +3min 44sec; 3 Cofidis +6:38; 4 CSC-Tiscali +7:40; 5 Kelme +8:47.. Grandera, who is almost certain to be ridden by Jamie Spencer in next week’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes if he is rejected by Godolphin’s retained rider, Frankie Dettori, in favour of Sakhee, was the subject of good support for the race yesterday and has been trimmed in the betting by Coral to 15-8, from 5-2. Jamie Spencer’s mount ran Daliapour to two lengths in the Group Three Curragh Cup three weeks ago.Andr?abre’s Polish Summer looks the one to beat judged on his second to Ange Gabriel in the Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, but another live contender is Fran?s Doumen’s progressive Clety who ran Mark Johnston’s And Beyond to a neck in the Listed Prix la Moskowa at Chantilly.KING GEORGE VI & QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES (Ascot, 27 July): Coral: 13-8 Sakhee, 15-8 Grandera, 8-1 Golan, 10-1 Millenary, 12-1 Boreal, Nayef, 14-1 Aquarelliste, 16-1 High Pitched, Quarter Moon, Storming Home, Zindabad, 25-1 others.William Hill: 5-4 Sakhee, 15-8 Grandera, 7-1 Golan, 12-1 Boreal, Nayef, Zindabad, 14-1 High Pitched, Millenary, 20-1 Storming Home, Tobougg, 25-1 others.. I ring the wholly cherubic Jamie Spencer on a Sunday morning, while he serves a two-day suspension by relaxing back home in his native Ireland.Racing’s freshest wunderkind sounds a little less than fresh himself, so the minutiae of our future meeting is left for another time. The next day, Spencer admits he cannot remember a single word of our conversation.