Salas gets four-year ban in third infraction for Spanish team after Belda and Merino
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Combined classification leader Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Burgos BH)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Igor Merino Cortazar (Burgos BH), Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias) and Antonio Molina (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA ) in the breakaway during stage 2 at Volta a Catalunya(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Best regional rider was David Belda (Burgos BH)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mountains leader Ibai Salas Zorrozua (Burgos BH)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Ibai Salas (Burgos BH) smiles at the start. He was the last survivor of the longest standing breakaway.(Image credit: El Pedal de Frodo)
The Spanish Professional Continental squad Burgos BH are facing a 15- to 45-day suspension following the doping case of Ibai Salas, after the UCI confirmed an anti-doping rule violation stemming from the Spaniard's biological passport values measured by the Spanish anti-doping agency, AEPSAD.
The UCI announced today it would ban Salas for four years, an increase on the three-year plus nine-month ban suggested by the Spanish authorities.
Earlier in the summer, his teammate Igor Meriño tested positive for human growth hormone and was provisionally suspended.
With the case of Salas, the team has earned a trio of anti-doping rule violations in one year after David Belda was given a four-year ban in December 2017 after testing positive for EPO.
The cases of Salas and Belda fell within the same 12-month period, meaning the entire squad could be put out of competition for a period of 15 to 45 days, depending on the decision of the UCI Disciplinary Commission.
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