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Lausanne (Switzerland) (AFP) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) rejected this Thursday, November 3, the appeal of Colombian Nairo Quintana against his disqualification from the last Tour de France 2022 due to the use of an analgesic prohibited by medical regulations.
The sports legal body based in Switzerland estimated, according to its statement, that the presence of tramadol in the blood of the 32-year-old climber, who finished sixth overall on the Tour, was enough to justify the sanction inflicted by the International Cycling Union on 17 of August.
Especially since the UCI acted “for medical reasons and not for doping reasons”, and therefore within the framework of “its power and its disciplinary competence”, continues the TAS, to which the Colombian attended at the beginning of September.
The cycling body had disqualified the runner, also sentenced him to a fine of 5,000 Swiss francs, after the analysis of two dried blood samples provided on July 8 (seventh stage) and July 13 (eleventh stage), revealing the presence of that product that is in the midst of scientific and ethical debates in the world of sport.
Tramadol, a synthetic opiate, was under surveillance by the World Anti-Doping Agency for a long time, without appearing on its list of prohibited products, which meant that sports federations did not include it in their anti-doping regulations.
On September 23, the AMA finally decided to exclude it from all competitions from 2024, evaluating studies on its effects on physical performance as well as the significant risks of dependence.
But the UCI, noting the particularly widespread use of this product in cycling, had banned it at the beginning of 2019 through its medical regulations.
The world cycling body was based on two risks, “progressive dependence” and, above all, drowsiness and loss of attention, “which increase the risk of falling in the race.”
On Thursday, in a statement, the UCI applauded the decision offered by the CAS, estimating that it reinforces “the validity of the ban on tramadol to protect the health and safety of runners.”
The day after his disqualification, Nairo Quintana announced that he would not participate in the Vuelta a España, stating that he had “neither the head nor the body” for the competition.
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