GENEVA – Spanish cyclist David Garcia Da Pena has been suspended after he failed a second anti-doping test during the Tour of Spain, world cycling’s ruling body the International Cycling Union (UCI) said Wednesday.

“The decision to provisionally suspend this rider was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Madrid indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of EPO in a urine sample collected from him at an in-competition test at the Vuelta on September 13, 2010,” the UCI said in a statement.

The UCI had already announced last week that the 33-year-old, as well as Xacobeo-Galicia teammate and Tour of Spain runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera, had tested positive for another prohibited substance, Hydroxyethyl Starch (HES), based on samples taken on September 16.

Garcia Da Pena, who finished 11th in the race, will now face a disciplinary hearing by the Spanish Cycling Federation to determine whether he violated anti-doping rules.

HES is known to fluidify the blood, but it also helps to mask the use of blood boosting substances such as EPO (erythropoietin) by reducing the levels of red blood cells, known as haematocrit.

Under cycling rules, findings of HES masking agent do not warrant an immediate provisional suspension, while performance-enhancing EPO does.

The UCI has set a permitted threshold of 50 percent for haematocrit. Riders who are found to have readings of 50 or above are provisionally suspended, pending further investigation.

Garcia Da Pena can still ask for a test of his “B” urine sample to verify the testing result.

Article:AFP
Photo: CorVos