UCI says it will take Mayo case to CAS

After Spanish cycling's secretary general Eugenio Bermudez refused to sanction Iban Mayo, the UCI issued a statement saying that it had set a deadline for the Spanish cycling federation "to take a position on the subject," or it would take Mayo's case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The UCI had requested that the Spanish Federation re-open disciplinary proceedings against Mayo "for a clear breach of the anti-doping regulations" when a B sample test came back positive for EPO after a second test on it.

Mayo's A sample tested positive in July during the Tour de France as a result of an analysis by the Châtenay-Malabry National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Paris. Given that lab was on holiday, a lab in Ghent tested the B sample for the first time with results returned as inconclusive.

At that time the Spanish Federation dropped its case against Mayo, but upon interpreting the inconclusive test to be neither negative nor positive, the UCI requested the Châtenay-Malabry lab run an analysis on the B sample. The additional B sample test confirmed the analysis of the A sample in finding "the presence of EPO". Mayo and his supporters are calling the second B sample test illegal after the initial B test failed to yield a positive result.