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UCI says Steve Houanard banned for 2 years, orders opening of proceedings against Leif Hoste

Houanard tested positive for EPO in September; Hoste faces action due to bio passport irregularities

The UCI has today confirmed that former AG2R La Mondiale rider Steve Houanard has been banned for two years after testing positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test. It has also asked for disciplinary proceedings to be opened against Belgian cyclist Leif Hoste as a result of irregularities in his biological passport profile.

Hoste, aged 35 and three times a runner-up at the Tour of Flanders, retired at the end of the 2012 season, which he rode with the Belgian UCI Professional Continental outfit, Accent Jobs-Willems Verandas.

In the wake of Lance Armstrong’s confession last week the UCI has pointed to its biological passport programme as the key weapon in its arsenal against drugs cheats.

The governing body has stressed that Hoste has “the right to the presumption of innocence until a final decision has been made on this matter.”

However, the fact that the disciplinary proceedings it has asked the Belgian national cycling federation, the RLVB, to open relate to his biological passport, can be seen as providing further evidence to underpin the UCI's insistence that the programme identifies riders who need to be looked at more closely.

Houanard’s ban for using EPO, however - the sample that tested positive was taken on 21 September last year - is perhaps more troubling for the authorities, highlighting that it is not the preserve of riders of past decades, but is being used right now.

The Frenchman, aged 26, turned pro with Argos-Shimano in 2009 and joined AG2R in 2011. As an amateur riding for Chambéry Cyclisme Formation, he finished third overall in the Tour d’Alsace in 2008.

The UCI added that Houanard signed a document accepting the sanction on 18 January.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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