The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) dismissed this Thursday Nairo Quintana’s appeal against the sanction imposed on him by the International Cycling Union (UCI), which disqualified him from the last Tour de France for violating its medical regulations. The UCI made this decision after analyzes of two blood samples provided by the Colombian cyclist on July 8 and 13 during the 2022 Tour de France revealed the presence of tramadol and its two main metabolites.
Tramadol is an analgesic banned by the UCI since March 1, 2019 to protect the health and safety of cyclists from the side effects of this substance, but it is not on the list of prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). ).
After the hearing of the case held on October 12, the CAS panel resolved that the UCI’s prohibition of tramadol in competition is due to medical reasons and not for doping reasons and, therefore, is within the competitions and agency jurisdiction.
The panel also concluded that the scientific evidence confirms that Nairo Quintana’s samples contained both tramadol and its two metabolites and on this basis determined that the contested decision should be upheld, thus dismissing the cyclist’s appeal.
The UCI announced on August 17 the disqualification of Quintana from the last Tour, in which he finished sixth, for violating his medical regulations and imposed a fine of 5,000 Swiss francs, after which the runner decided to resort to the TAS and resigned from participating in the Vuelta a España although the regulations allowed him to compete in it. Quinta is currently without a team after ending his spell with Arkéa Samsic.
