Aurela Nerlo says she has received a two-year doping ban after a Polish anti-doping disciplinary panel found that her violation involving ligandrol was not intentional. The Polish rider announced the outcome in a written statement, explaining that her suspension is being counted from July 2025, when she provided the sample that tested positive.
Nerlo, who finished second at the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, maintains that she never knowingly used a prohibited substance. She says the panel accepted that the violation was not deliberate but could not impose a shorter sanction because the source of the ligandrol was never established. The full disciplinary decision was not independently available at the time of writing.
Nerlo says source of ligandrol remains unknown
The case concerns ligandrol, also known as LGD-4033, an anabolic agent prohibited at all times under anti-doping rules. Nerlo was provisionally suspended in 2025 after her A and B samples tested positive, missing that year’s Tour de France Femmes.
In her latest statement, Nerlo says she commissioned tests of numerous products used by her or those close to her, with none identifying a source of contamination. She also says a hair analysis was negative and a blood sample taken on the same day as the urine test showed no abnormalities.
According to Nerlo, an expert she consulted considered the analytical findings and concentration of ligandrol consistent with unintended exposure. She also reported the possibility that a criminal offence had been committed, but says the investigation did not establish how the substance entered her body. These are details of her account, not independent confirmation of a contamination source.
She said she had submitted to anti-doping controls in April 2025 without an adverse finding and had no reason to risk her career after signing a further two-year contract. Without an identified source, however, the panel did not reduce the two-year sanction she says it imposed.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad podium preceded suspension
Nerlo’s positive test followed the strongest result of her professional career. In March 2025 she finished second to Lotte Claes at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad after the pair stayed clear from a long-range breakaway. Demi Vollering took third, more than three minutes behind.
Photo Credit: Flanders ClassicsIn the statement, Nerlo described the past year as emotionally and financially exhausting and said she had spent her savings trying to explain the result. She apologised to her team, coaches and supporters, while warning other athletes to keep records of medicines and supplements they use.
The sanction, as described by Nerlo, would run until July 2027, although she did not give an exact expiry date. Her central position remains that the prohibited substance was present in her sample but that she did not take it knowingly.
