Accused of having taken prohibited products, Quintana contests his disqualification from the Tour de France


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The Colombian Nairo Quintana seized the Court of Arbitration for Sport to challenge his disqualification from the last Tour de France. He was accused of having consumed a product prohibited by the regulations.

Sixth in the last Tour de France, Nairo Quintana was disqualified by the Union Cycliste Internationale. He has just challenged this decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “For the time being, it is not possible to indicate when the final decision will be rendered,” replied the CAS, whose panel of arbitrators must still be appointed before setting a hearing date.

The UCI accused Nairo Quintana in early August of having tested positive for Tramadol, a substance banned since 2019. In a statement, however, the UCI explained that the ban on the use of this powerful painkiller in competition constitutes an infraction. to the UCI regulations but not a violation of the anti-doping rules, which is why the cyclist can continue to take part in the competitions. Following this revelation, Nairo Quintana reacted, saying he was “surprised to read the UCI press release”. “I am completely unaware of the use of this substance and deny having ever used it in my career,” he said in a statement posted on Twitter. “With my team of lawyers, we are examining all possible remedies to defend me. I also want to confirm that I will be in the Tour of Spain, on my bike, giving the best of myself for my team, my country and my supporters”. The next day, he had finally announced that he would not participate in the Vuelta, the departure of which indicated that he had neither the head nor the body in the competition. “I prefer to go home, organize and prepare my defense about the news that reached me yesterday,” he said.

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The UCI explains that it has “prohibited the use of Tramadol in competition in all disciplines and categories in order to protect the health and safety of riders given the side effects of this substance”. This painkiller is “the opioid substance most delivered in France (nearly 6 million patients) and the most involved in hospitalizations and deaths by overdose or accidental intoxication”, writes on its site UFC Que Choisir. The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products indicates for its part that Tramadol is “the first analgesic implicated in deaths linked to the taking of analgesics, ahead of morphine”. Delivered on prescription, it is also “the second most frequently found analgesic on falsified prescriptions presented in pharmacies, behind codeine”. Tramadol, it says, should always be “dispensed in the smallest possible pack sizes, suitable for prescription for the shortest possible duration.”



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