Barredo under scrutiny for biological passport anomaly
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has started a disciplinary procedure against Spanish rider Carlos Barredo after irregularities were found in his blood profile, part of the UCI's biological passport anti-doping monitoring system.
Barredo has ridden for the Dutch Rabobank team for the past two seasons. His last major win was a stage of the Vuelta a Espana in 2010 whilst riding for QuickStep. Prior to that, he had victories in Clasica de San Sebastian (2009), and stages of Paris-Nice (2008), the Tour Down Under (2006) and Vuelta a Asturias (2004).
In August, Rabobank issued a statement saying that Barredo had been questioned by the UCI for biological passport anomalies relating to 2007-2011. At that point, Barredo stressed that he had never doped nor used blood transfusions.
"The rider shall be accorded the right to the presumption of innocence until a final decision has been made on this matter," said the UCI on Thursday.
The UCI's biological passport system builds up a profile of an individual rider's blood and urine values. Any unexpected or unnatural fluctation in these values - which include haematocrit and hormone levels - can be a sign that a rider is using banned performance-enhancing substances or blood transfusions.
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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