UCI decision to provisionally suspend rider upheld
Image 1 of 4
Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) was third overall in Tirreno-Adriatico(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo) punishes his pedals on the climb(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Roman Kreuziger (tinkoff-Saxo) went on the attack but gained little(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Roman Kreuziger has had his appeal against a provisional suspension from the International Cycling Union (UCI) rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Tinkoff-Saxo rider was looking to overturn the provisional suspension handed down to him in order to take part in the upcoming Vuelta a España.
After the announcement was made Kreuziger wrote on twitter "Ok,not what we expected, but we didn't say last word!Looking forwards with Mr.Stovicek...Life is full of surprised.#nevergiveup"
The UCI suspended Kreuziger at the start of the month, stopping him from competing at the Tour of Poland. He agreed to miss the Tour de France after the UCI's Anti-Doping Foundation (CAFD) had found anomalies in his biological passport between 2011 and 2012 and informed him that he was formally under investigation. However, Kreuziger was not initially suspended by the UCI or his team.
At the start of August the UCI took the unprecedented step in treating Biological Passport cases as the equivalent of positive A-sample drug test after they provisionally suspended Roman Kreuziger. They were later backed by WADA.
At the time the UCI President Brian Cookson, told Cyclingnews, "There's very serious concern and doubt has been raised by his Biological Passport. We think that continuing to allow him to compete by virtue of the constant spinning out of the explanations and challenges his legal team and experts are producing is not in the best interest of the sport. It's regrettable for Mr Kreuziger, but if his team had done the right thing, as they had for the Tour de France then we wouldn't be in the situation."
Kreuziger was sidelined on the eve of the Tour de France after he announced that anti-doping authorities had opened a biological passport case against him. The anti-doping authorities had raised concerns over fluctuations in the rider's biological passport between March 2011 and August 2011, and between April 2012 through the end of the 2012 Giro d'Italia.
At the time, Kreuziger rode for Astana but made the switch to Tinkoff-Saxo at the start of the 2013 season. Although Tinkoff-Saxo removed him from the Tour line-up, they became frustrated with the UCI's handling of the case and scheduled to race the rider in Poland, a decision that set them on a collision course with the UCI. In the majority of the previous passport cases, such as Team Sky's former rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, the team took the decision to suspend their rider until the case had closed.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
