The theme of Nairo Quintana does not end. After the cyclist presented the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), after having been disqualified from the last Tour de France because the substance tramadol was found in two of his tests, the boyacense already has a date for his hearing before the highest instance.
The last voice for tramadol
Quintana’s appearance before the TAS will be this Wednesday, October 12.
As confirmed by EL TIEMPO, the man from Boyacá will be accompanied by his Italian lawyer and a medical scientist.
The arguments that Quintana and his people will present, to avoid the sanction, are exactly five:
1. Sampling
Quintana’s lawyers warn that the taking of the sample is not entirely reliable. “It was a finger prick and the blood was deposited on a piece of paper,” they remark.
Where did the paper go? How is the sample analyzed on paper? Was the paper sealed? For the defense such a shot is rare and “exotic”.
2. Laboratory not accredited
The appeal notes that the analysis of the runner’s sample was performed at the University of Geneva laboratory, which is not accredited by WADA.
The lawyers question why a laboratory like the one in Lausanne, Switzerland, which is 40 minutes from Geneva, much more effective and endorsed by the highest doping authority in the world, was not used.
3. The spirit of the sanction
The lawyers in charge of the appeal assure that in the UCI regulations when the topic of tramadol is brought up, it is warned that it is not a mandatory analysis, that it is only a suggestion.
And if the consumption of that medicine is prohibited in competition, why did they wait until the end of the race to notify the sanction and they did not do it once the result of the analysis was known?
This, taking into account that the spirit of the rule is to protect the platoon from any incident caused by the alleged intake of the substance.
4. The runner was not heard
Another of the points of the defense is that Nairo Quintana was not given due process. The runner was notified of his sanction, but at no time was he called for release.
The lawyers point out that this is a fundamental principle that was not taken into account. They didn’t let him see anything either, they didn’t open sample B. According to the defense, the procedure was arbitrary.
5. ‘There was no consumption of tramadol’
After the sanction, Nairo Quintana was subjected to several subsequent tests for his defense. The 2014 Giro d’Italia champion had some part of his hair and pubic hair analyzed in order to clear up doubts about his medical behavior and that there was no use of tramadol, as he has always preached. .
As this newspaper was able to learn, his defense has a medical-scientific analysis in hand that could explain that the appearance of tramadol in the blood occurred as a reaction to the consumption of another substance.
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