Eight-day suspension for RusVelo

The board of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) has handed down an eight-day suspension for the RusVelo team after three of its riders testing positive for the asthma medication Fenoterol.

RusVelo confirmed last week that Andrey Solomennikov, Roman Maikin, and Artem Ovechkin all tested positive for Fenoterol after the Russian national championships in late June. The substance is banned for in-competition use by the World Anti-Doping Code.

The Professional Continental team is a member of the MPCC, whose rules call for a four-week suspension in the case of three positive tests within a 24 month period.

In April, Valery Kaykov was provisionally suspended and sacked by the team after failing a test for the new fat-burning drug GW1516.

The MPCC released the following statement explaining the short sanction.

"The MPCC board has received the explanations given by RusVelo team manager Renat Khamidulin. At this occasion, he stated that Roman Maikin, Andrey Solomennikov and Artem Ovechkin’s positive controls to fenoterol were due to a mistake. They were given anti-allergic medication by the team doctor, which has therefore been dismissed. Considering this is one sole infraction and that the riders are not responsible for this medical error, MPCC pronounced for the autosuspension of the team RusVelo from July 13rd to July 21st."