Following a recent number of anti-doping non-negatives, another provisional suspension has been announced following the news that Andalucia-CajaSur rider Manuel Vazquez Hueso has provisionally tested positive for EPO.
“The decision to provisionally suspend this rider was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Barcelona indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of EPO in a urine sample collected from him in an out of competition test on 20 March 2010,” said the UCI in a statement today.
“This targeted test was carried out on the basis of information contained in the rider’s biological passport.”
It said that the provisional suspension would remain in place until a hearing panel convened by the Spanish cycling federation determines if he had indeed broken Article 21 of the UCI’s anti-doping rules.
Vazquez Hueso is a 29 year old past winner of the Volta ao Alentejo, and also has stage victories in the Regio Tour and the Vuelta Ciclista a la Communidad Valenciana to his credit. He had a strong season last year, netting fourth and ninth on stages of the Vuelta a España while with the Contentpolis – Ampo team.
This season, he continued his solid form, netting several top ten results including third in the Trofeo Inca, fourth and eighth on stages of the Vuelta a Andalucia and eighth overall.
The UCI concluded its statement today by saying that Vazquez Hueso has the right to request the examination of his B sample, and to attend that process.
Several other riders were recently suspended for anti-doping violations, namely Thomas Frei (BMC Racing, EPO), Fuyu Li (RadioShack, Clenbuterol) and Mattia Gavazzi (Colnago-CSF Inox, cocaine).
In February Andalucia CajaSur were one of seventeen teams confirmed as having UCI wildcard status. This requires teams to meet a certain standard and to accept regular random tests, in return for which the squads concerned can apply for wildcard places in the Grand Tours and other events.