Spanish newspaper El País has reported that Toni Tauler tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO in an out of competition doping control this past March just before the track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. According to the paper, Tauler will have his B-sample tested next week.
The newspaper's source indicated the initial analysis was conducted by the laboratory in Madrid. The outcome of his positive result wasn't known until after this year's World Championships had been contested.
Tauler, 36, took the silver medal in the Madison for Spain at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing with compatriot Joan Llaneras. He competed on the road with the Kelme-Costa Blanca team from 1999 to 2003, where he won a stage of both the Vuelta a Murcia and Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. In 2004 he moved over to the Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne squad, last racing on the road professionally for the 3 Molinos Resort team in 2006, the year he won the Spanish national time trial championships.