Brazilian Olympic cyclist disqualified after EPO positive

A Brazilian cyclist who tested positive for the banned substance CERA in a sample taken prior to the Olympic road race in Rio earlier this month has been formally disqualified after deciding not to contest the issue.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is holding a special session in Rio while the Olympic and Paralympic Games are in progress in the city, confirmed today that Kleber Ramos had “accepted a provisional suspension on a voluntary basis” and that “he did not request a hearing.”

It added that disciplinary proceedings in relation to the rider, who failed to finish the Olympic road race which was won by Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet, would be managed by the UCI.

In a statement, the governing body said that the sample in question was collected in an out-of-competition test conducted on 31 July.

> Olympic road race rider fails drugs test

Aged 30, Ramos rode this season for the Brazil-based UCI Professional Continental team Funvic Soul Cycles & Carrefour, which terminated his contract after news of the positive test emerged, saying that it did not tolerate doping and carried out internal controls to ensure riders were clean.