Katusha escapes ban from racing
The UCI has announced that Katusha will escape suspension after two of its riders tested positive within a period of 12 months.
On 10 July 2015, Luca Paolini was notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding (presence of cocaine) relating to a sample taken during an in-competition test on 7 July 2015. A disciplinary procedure before the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal is under way.
On 5 February 2016, Eduard Vorganov was notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding (presence of Meldonium) in a sample collected during an out-of-competition control on 14 January 2016. The rider is provisionally suspended until the adjudication of the affair.
New UCI anti-doping rules brought in at the start of last year to coincide with the implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code 2015 provide that where two riders of a team return an AAF in the same 12-month period, it can face a suspension from racing of between 15 and 45 days.
In a statement released this afternoon, the UCI said that the President of its Disciplinary Commission, the Swiss lawyer Jean Pierre Morand, had decided that “The conditions for a suspension of Team Katusha in application of art. 7.12.1 the UCI Anti-Doping Rules have not been met.”
