In a press release today the International Cycling Union (UCI) has announced that Spanish rider Alberto Fernández De La Puebla Ramos (Fuji-Servetto) has been provisionally suspended. The decision was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Lausanne indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of EPO in a urine sample collected from him in an out of competition test at his home on 15 October 2009.
The provisional suspension for De La Puebla Ramos will remain in effect until a hearing panel convened by the Spanish Cycling Federation determines whether he has indeed committed an anti-doping rule violation under Article 21 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules.
De La Puebla Ramos has the right to request and attend the analysis of his B sample.
The UCI has said that under the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules prevent them from providing any additional information at this time.
The rider is not listed on the 2010 roster for the Footon-Servetto squad, the new name for his previous team Fuji-Servetto. His career highlights include a stage win in the Vuelta a Asturias and the Euska Bizikleta in 2007.
The UCI said that this was a targeted test carried out on the basis of information contained in the rider’s biological passport. The anti-doping fight has become more organized by using advanced techniques such as the biological passport to narrow the window of opportunity for cheats.
No reaction has been given by De La Puebla Ramos, but if he is guilty of doping, the trend of riders coming forward to cooperate with doping investigations could be a factor in his decision to help with the fight against doping in Spain.