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Quintana disqualified from the Tour de France: the CAS rejects the Colombian's appeal

2022-11-03T12:41:32.067Z


Tested positive for tramadol twice this summer during the Tour, the 32-year-old climber had filed an appeal against his disqualification.


Nairo Quintana is not close to recovering his sixth place in the general classification of the last Tour de France.

The Colombian cycling star learned on Thursday that the appeal against his disqualification had been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The presence of tramadol, a powerful painkiller, in his veins during the Grande Boucle is enough to justify the sanction imposed.

The affair broke out on August 17.

The UCI announced that he had two positive tests on July 8 and 13.

These facts, which the 32-year-old runner categorically denies, constitute a “violation of the medical regulations” of the UCI but did not represent at this time a “violation of the anti-doping rules” of the World Agency (WADA).

This is the reason why this decision to exclude him from the final classification of the Tour de France was not accompanied by any suspension from competition.

Product officially banned by WADA since September 23

Tramadol, a synthetic opiate, has long been "under surveillance" by the World Anti-Doping Agency without appearing on its list of prohibited products, which prevented sports federations from including it in their anti-doping regulations.

On September 23, the WADA finally decided to ban it from all competitions from 2024, highlighting studies showing its effects on physical performance, as well as the significant risks of addiction.

But the UCI, noting the particularly widespread use of this product in cycling - among the urine samples positive for tramadol taken in the context of 35 Olympic sports, 68% concerned this discipline in 2017 -, had banned it at the beginning of 2019 via its medical regulations.

Quintana left Arkéa-Samsic this summer

This case greatly tarnishes the career of Nairo Quintana and his time with the Bretons of Arkéa-Samsic.

Arrived with great fanfare in 2020, the runner did not fundamentally disappoint but he did not achieve great victories either.

17th in the Tour in 2020, 28th in 2021, he has never been able to compete against the emergence of talents like Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic or Jonas Vingegaard.

The Breton team had reached an agreement in principle with the Colombian this summer for an extension.

But these two positive controls for tramadol changed the situation, wrote L'Equipe in early October.

As a member of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC), Arkéa-Samsic would have had difficulty justifying such a decision.

Especially since a search targeting the team during the 2020 Tour had already made headlines.

It is for this reason that Quintana had to forfeit the Vuelta when he had initially confirmed his participation.

The South American has not yet announced in which colors he will ride next season.

In any case, the UCI hastened Thursday to “welcome the decision rendered by the CAS”, considering that it “reinforced the validity of the ban on tramadol to protect the health and safety of riders”.

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2022-11-03

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