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Tour hit by another positive EPO test

French police detained Spanish cyclist Moises Duenas Nevado yesterday after he tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO during the Tour de France.

Police took away the Barloworld rider, who was 19th overall in the Tour after 10 stages, after they briefly questioned him at the team’s hotel in the southwestern town of Tarbes.

Claudio Mansata, a Barloworld spokesman, said Duenas Nevado has pulled out of the race and was immediately suspended by the team.

However, he said the team will not pull out of the Tour.

The case marks the second positive EPO test this year involving a Tour rider, in a sport whose image has been long tarnished by drug use and other cheating.

Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran — a former teammate of seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong — was sent home for testing positive for EPO after the first stage this year.

Pierre Bordry, head of the French anti-doping agency, said Duenas Nevado tested positive after the fourth stage on July 8 at Cholet, the site of the race’s first time trial.

Duenas Nevado, 27, riding in his third Tour de France, recorded his best finish of 39th last year. Among his previous achievements were victories in the Regio Tour last year and the Tour de l’Avenir in 2006.

It was the second dose of bad news for Barloworld during the Tour. Its team leader, Colombian rider Juan Mauricio Soler, pulled out of the race last week after injuring his wrists in a crash during the first stage.

Soler was the King of the Mountains champion as the Tour’s best climber last year.

The two previous Tours were also marred by doping, pressing organizers ASO and the International Cycling Union (UCI) to clean up the race. Sponsors, such as the longtime German backer T-Mobile, pulled out.

Last year, the pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan tested positive for blood doping, Italian Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone, Spaniard Iban Mayo was busted for using EPO and race leader Michael Rasmussen was kicked out just days before the end for lying about his whereabouts to avoid pre-Tour drug tests.

Mayo was cleared by his national federation, but the case is still being contested by the UCI.

In the 2006 Tour, winner Floyd Landis tested positive for synthetic testosterone after a spectacular comeback ride that set the stage for his victory.

The American was later stripped of the title after a long court battle.

Following Tuesday’s rest day, Australia’s Cadel Evans would take a one second lead into yesterday’s 11th stage, just ahead of Frank Schleck of Luxembourg.

The 167.5km trek from Lannemezan to Foix features one category one climb up the Col de Portel.
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