Former Trek-Segafredo rider André Cardoso banned more than a year after EPO positive

The 34-year-old has been banned for four years by the UCI

André Cardoso in action at La Flèche Wallonne
(Image credit: Yuzuru Sunada)

Former Trek-Segafredo rider André Cardoso has been banned for four years after testing positive for EPO.

The Portuguese was suspended on the eve of the 2017 Tour de France after returning a positive test for Erythropoietin (EPO).

After the out-of-competition test, the 34-year-old was provisionally suspended, but the UCI announced on Thursday that he would be banned for four years.

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The governing body said: “The UCI announces that the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal has rendered its decision in the case involving André Cardoso.

“The Anti-Doping Tribunal found the rider guilty of an anti-doping rule violation (use of Erythropoietin) and imposed a four-year period of ineligibility on the rider.”

Cardoso had denied taking EPO and requested his B sample be tested.

The UCI went quiet on the case after the Trek-Segafredo rider’s provisional suspension.

Cardoso rode with Caja Rural before joining the WorldTour with Garmin-Sharp in 2014.

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He left for Trek-Segafredo at the end of 2016, where he was suspended part way through his first season.

Cardoso was dropped from Trek’s Tour de France squad when news of the positive broke.

Speaking at the time, Cardoso said: “I am fully aware that I will be presumed to be guilty, but it’s important to me to say that I am devastated by this news and I wanted to state that I have never taken any illegal substances.”

Trek’s star rider in 2017 Alberto Contador said he was surprised and disappointed in his team-mate.

“It was a big surprise,” Contador said before the Tour. “I never imagined that something like that would happen in this team.”

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Alex Ballinger

Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers.  Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.