The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has upheld the UCI’s decision to disqualify Nairo Quintana from the 2022 Tour de France, confirming his in-race positive for the painkiller tramadol.
The Colombian finished sixth overall but has lost those results. However he will not be banned for a first offence as tramadol are only considered offences under the UCI Medical Rules and do not constitute an Anti-doping Rule Violation. WADA is set to ban tramadol from 2024.
Quintana had appealed to CAS in a bid to get the UCI’s decision overturned and his results from the race restored.
But in a verdict issued on Thursday, CAS states categorically that “Laboratory analysis of the dried blood spot samples provided by him [Quintana] after the stages of 8 and 13 July 2022 revealed the presence of tramadol and its two main metabolites.”
The presence of tramadol in a race constitutes an infringement of the UCI Medical rules, CAS statement says.
The statement also revealed that the “CAS Panel deliberated and determined that the UCI’s in-competition ban on tramadol was for medical rather than doping reasons and was therefore within the UCI’s power and jurisdiction.”
Decisions by CAS are final and can not be appealed.
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