Colom suspended after positive test

Eurosport - Tue, 09 Jun 18:46:00 2009

Spanish rider Antonio Colom of the Katusha team has been provisionally suspended after failing a drugs test for the blood-booster EPO.

CYCLING - Antonio Colom - 0

"On June 8 2009, the UCI advised Spanish rider Antonio Colom Mas that he is provisionally suspended," the International Cycling Union stated.

"The decision to provisionally suspend Mr Colom Mas was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Madrid indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of Recombinant EPO in a urine sample collected from him at an out of competition test on April 2 2009."

Katusha also said the 31-year-old Colom, who had won a stage in this year's Paris-Nice race, had been suspended.

"The provisional suspension remains in force until a hearing panel convened by the Spanish Cycling Federation determines whether Mr Colom Mas has committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 21 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules," the statement added.

The UCI has been using the data collected in the riders' biological passport to improve on targeting cheats, with Colom's positive test a result of that policy.

"He has been targeted because of the data on his biological passport," UCI president Pat McQuaid told Reuters.

In October 2007, the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency announced they would collect blood samples from all professional riders to create a medical profile, or passport, that would be compared to the data registered in doping tests.

Under a new team policy, Colom will be asked to pay a fine of five times his annual salary to Katusha if he is handed a ban.

Colom is the second Katusha rider to fail a drugs test this season. Last month, Austrian champion Christian Pfannberger was suspended by the Russian team following a positive dope test.

He faces a possible life ban from the sport having already had a two-year suspension after a positive test for EPO in 2004.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 12 of 12

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  1. stanof, you're forgotten Roberto Heras he was­ Bruyneel guy, when he tested positive (he lost Vuelta­ win for that, Menchov was a winner)

    From bobcha78, on Thu 11 Jun 7:30PM

  2. you all not understand me, i was say that Colom is­ disapoint me and now everybody is going to say (there­ is another Bruyneel guy, like it was before Landis,­ Hamilton, and many others who was cought in dope). I­ love everything what Bruyneel do, i love to watch­ Discovery now Astana, and Armstrong now Contador. I­ watching cycling last 20 years, from Indurain to­ Contador, everybody who was cought in dope was formely­ riders of Bruyneel (and i see some people who's­ always saying that on this eurosport forum)

    From bobcha78, on Thu 11 Jun 7:28PM

  3. Sadly, all this gives an elemenet of credance to the­ ramblings of the likes of Landis, Hamilton, Vino etc­ (if that's possible?!). This, coupled with the­ recent revelations of Khol, show that the system still­ isn't as sophisticated and reliable as it needs to­ be. Would you risk 5x your salary, based upon what­ seems to be a hit-and-miss testing procedure?! ­ It's getting better, but it's not there yet, as­ some riders are still getting away with it. Fingers­ crossed that the 'new generation' of riders are­ clean and it's just a case of ridding the peleton­ of the long-term systematic users of PEDs.

    From pedro118118, on Wed 10 Jun 4:43PM

  4. bobcha, I specifically don't know anyone who tested­ positive while on Bruyneel's team. I might be wrong­ but I simply don't remember. If there is more than­ one guy I would be surprised.

    And don't bring up­ Basso or Kloden, they were under heavy fire way before­ they came across Bruyneel, and BTW they never tested­ positive neither.

    From stanof, on Wed 10 Jun 7:38AM

  5. bobcha78 I'm not quite sure why you make a­ connection with Bruyneel. Please correct me if I'm­ wrong but Colom was with Astana under Saiz/Biver and­ let go to Katusha by Bruyneel shortly after he took­ over. This guy has a history of doping dating back to­ his ban while with Caisse d'Epargne. So really­ he's another one of the Unzue/Saiz/Biver/Feltrin­ guys. I'm not saying Bruyneel is catagorically­ innocent. However, riders caught doping while in his­ teams are few compared to some other team directors. I­ live in a democracy where people are innocent until­ proven guilty and these insnuations do more harm than­ good.

    From John, on Wed 10 Jun 3:47AM

  6. another epo side effect must be making stupid even more­ stupid. heh, heh, didn't he just sign that new team­ policy contract a few days ago? doh!

    From vindetable, on Wed 10 Jun 3:43AM

  7. bobcha, how is he a Bruyneel guy? He is as anyone's­ as Bruyneel's. BTW, none of the guys that got­ caught were caught under Bruyneel's watch.

    From stanof, on Wed 10 Jun 3:36AM

  8. so what are the chances of seeing katusha at the tour

    From ai, on Wed 10 Jun 3:35AM

  9. lets see two riders same team both second time­ offenders me thinks it runs a little deeper

    From ai, on Wed 10 Jun 2:43AM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    you disapoint me Colom, one another Bruyneel guys

    From bobcha78, on Wed 10 Jun 2:08AM

  11. what a f***ing tit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From gazmars, on Wed 10 Jun 2:02AM

  12. Well, there's a schocker...

    From Dries, on Wed 10 Jun 1:52AM
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