Belgian cyclocross star Toon Aerts (Team Deschacht-Hens-FSP) spoke about the financial blow he took after a 2-year doping ban, despite the UCI admitting that the ingestion of the banned substance was involuntary.

Aerts was suspended during the 2022-1-19 Baloise-Trek Lions race after letrozole metabolites, a substance that boosts testosterone, were discovered in his system in an out-of-competition test for 2022-2.  

During his suspension, Aerts worked as a physical education teacher. He returned to the race at Exact Cross Sint Niklaas on May 2 this year and is currently competing in Team Deschacht-Hens-FSP. He was ranked 2nd at the UCI World Cup in Dublin on Sunday.

"The suspension cost me more money than I could earn as a PE teacher," Aerts told Het Nieuwsblad.

Aerts has always protested his innocence, and the uci has reportedly recognized that the ingestion of the substance is involuntary. He was forced to pay a fine by the uci and when he tried to prove his own innocence, not only for his own lab tests, but for his own legal costs

"found the contaminated supplement but was in an open container." To be legally binding, it is also necessary to find contaminated supplements in sealed containers. And unfortunately, we have not succeeded so far. So, officially, no cause of contamination has been found," said Yannick Prevost, Aerts manager at the time.

Since returning to racing, Aerts race fees have also declined. The memory of his suspension continues to haunt the 31-year-old's heart. He says he continues to study the problematic drug and is trying to find answers about how it came to his system.

"My starting fee has dropped, but I am pleased to be able to do my sport again. For many, this life is a dream. I certainly don't want to lose that realization," he said.

"I still think about it every day. Sometimes for something small that reminds me of it, but sometimes I'm also actively looking for Google's Letrozole and still looking for missing puzzle pieces.

Aerts is a former European champion and won the title in 2016. In addition, from 2019 to 2021, he won the podium at the World Championships for 3 consecutive times. 

His best result since returning to the race before becoming runner-up in Dublin was 11th in the Superprelige Merksplas on 16/2, losing a sprint finish to laurens Sweeck. Aerts knows he's not back at his best yet, but he wants to keep up with the rest in the coming months and says the sport has moved on during his time. 

"I know what values I have in the last 10 years. At the moment, I'm not an absolute top, but I'm exactly where I should be," he said. 

"I certainly pedal what I was pedaling when I achieved a podium place. Only the top is much wider than it was 2 years ago. Except perhaps Eli Iserbyt and Niels Vandeputte, no one can now say that they are consistently in the top 5. Tybau Nis will win, but he will miss the race too. The same applies to Laurens Sweeck.

"If you make a mistake in the past, one rider will pass you. Now, with 1 mistake, you immediately lose 5 or 6 places.”