Nairo Quintana has announced this Thursday that, finally, he will not participate in the Tour of Spain, which begins on Friday, August 19. Hours after ratifying his participation through a statement published on his Twitter account, the cyclist changes his decision in order to focus on defending him before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Colombian was surprised by his disqualification from the recent edition of the Tour de France (in which he finished sixth, his best performance since third place in 2016), after the International Cycling Union (UCI) sanctioned him for the use of tramadol, an analgesic to combat pain that is prohibited in this sport.
The first Colombian cyclist to win the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, he also became the first to be sanctioned by the UCI for taking a prohibited substance. In this case, the body clarifies that it is not doping. After learning the news, Quintana posted a statement on Twitter assuring that he is "totally unaware of the use of that substance" and that he denies "having used it" in his career. "With my team of lawyers we are exhausting all the processes to assume my defense," he says in the text. "I also want to ratify that I will be in the Vuelta a España, riding my bike giving the best of me for my team, my country and my fans", he closed.
This decision has radically changed in just a few hours. His forces and his mind are set on revoking the sanction and showing that he has not committed any illegality in the Tour de France. For this reason, the Colombian has once again issued a brief statement to publicize his absence in the race for Spain, which this year begins in Utrecht, the Netherlands. "I announce that I will not participate in the Vuelta to assert my reasons before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), I will return to the racing calendar at the end of the season," reads the message published by the cyclist.
The recently renewed by the Arkea-Samsic team could have been perfectly at this appointment, since tramadol is not considered doping by the World Anti-Doping Agency, but is simply a prohibited substance. In this way, it does not carry any sanction of several months without competing, as would happen in the case of other types of drugs. The Colombian was on the entry list for the 77th edition of the Spanish round, in which he already triumphed in 2016. However, his confidence in his innocence leads him to place all his concentration on the open process in the CAS.
The use of tramadol has been prohibited by the UCI since March 1, 2019 in all competitions and categories in the world of cycling. Its purpose is to protect the health of runners from the possible side effects of the substance. Nairo Quintana was detected in one of the tests that are carried out routinely during each competition, in which a minimal blood sample is taken from the cyclist's fingertip.
