Portuguese cyclist Andre Cardoso of Alberto Contador's Trek-Segafredo team has been provisionally suspended after failing a test for the banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO), the International Cycling Union (UCI) said on Tuesday.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that Portuguese rider Andre Cardoso was notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) of Erythropoietin in a sample collected in the scope of an out-of-competition control on 18 June 2017,” the UCI said in a statement.
Cardoso had been included in Trek-Segafredo's team for the Tour de France that starts on Saturday in Düsseldorf, Germany.
According to UCI rules, Trek-Segafredo can still replace Cardoso in their nine-man squad for the Tour, which is spearheaded by twice champion Contador and German John Degenkolb.
Cardoso, 32, who had managed top-20 finishes in the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, was to be one of Contador’s domestiques in the mountains on the Tour de France, which runs from July 1st-23rd.
