French sports daily L’Equipe has reported on its Web site that Liquigas rider Manuel Beltran has tested positive for the drug EPO. According to an unnamed anti-doping official, the test result came after stage 1 of the tour. Beltran finished stage 1 in 25th place before being one of several randomly selected for anti-doping controls.
Since the Tour is operating without the UCI this year, the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) is responsible for all the blood and urine controls. Once official confirmation comes from AFLD, Manuel Beltran will most likely get the boot from this years tour. It is then expected that his team Liquigas, will “voluntarily” leave the tour.
Before signing with liquigas last season, Beltran was a member of 3 of Lance Armstrong’s tour winning campaigns.
We’ll see how this unfolds and keep you posted.
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It would show better class from teh French association to keep names private until everythng is confirmed. Releasing a name before the French doping monkeys can confirm the positive is tacky and unethical as well.
If his second sample test positive, kick him out and move on, but these unnamed sources who leak this PERSONAL information before confirmation should be dealt with as well. Show some class France.
good jobs by the uci regarding the issue of drugs in the tour this year weldone
The first commenter says that the testing body should “show some class” and not release the name of the suspected doper until it has been confirmed.
That is the way it has been for years, and doping has just about scuttled any credibility cycling has as a sport. This year the testing rules have been changed and, yes, names can be announced before the B sample has been tested.
It would be unfortunate if a false positive resulted in the wrongful ejection of a rider, but a conservative approach to sniffing out the cheaters has proven to be unsuccessful.
It is discouraging to see, yet again, the articles I’ve read take the angle of “cycling is full of dopers” vs. it is perhaps the most vigilant sport in testing for cheaters.