The Tour de France may have ended but the issue of drugs and cycling seems to have plenty of road left in it – and this time the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is involved.

The FSAI launched an investigation after an Irish amateur cyclist tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol and claimed the positive test was as a result of eating contaminated beef.

Kildare cyclist Ciaran Kelly has been banned from competition for four years as a result of the positive test after a race in Wexford in 2014.

Mr Kelly claimed the test result was due to eating beef products bought from a butcher who was importing frozen beef from a number of countries – including Spain, Brazil, Argentina and New Zealand – and selling it as Irish. Mr Kelly named the butcher but was unable to produce evidence to verify his claim.

The Irish Sport Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel found that Mr Kelly’s allegations “called into question the reputation of the entire beef industry in Ireland”. As a result, the FSAI launched its investigation, which took three of its officials five months to complete. The FSAI tested products from the butcher and supplier named by Mr Kelly but found no evidence to support his claim.

Mr Kelly will not be eligible to compete again until July 2019. He has 21 days to appeal the ruling.