The Colombian Nairo Quintana (Archaea Samsic), has announced this Thursday that he is resigning from participating in the 77th edition of the Vuelta to “assert my reasons” before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) after his disqualification from the Tour de France.
Although on Wednesday, after learning of the press release from the International Cycling Union (UCI) that disqualified him from the 2022 Tour de France for “infringing the prohibition on the use of tramadol” in competition, assured that he was going to take part in the Spanish race, this Thursday he announced his decision not to participate.
“I announce that I will not participate in La Vuelta to assert my reasons before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. I will return to the race calendar at the end of the seasonQuintana said in a statement.
Hours before, Quintana himself confirmed that he would defend himself and I would appeal the sanctionwhich did not prevent him from continuing to participate in other tests, in the TAS but assured that he would be in La Vuelta, which starts this Friday from Utrecht (The Netherlands).
The UCI disqualified the Colombian from the last Tour de France, in which he was sixth overall and managed to do three ‘Top 10’ in individual stages, including a second place in stage 11 with a finish in the Col du Granon.
“Quintana has been sanctioned for violating the prohibition on the use of tramadol in competition established in the Medical Regulation from the ICU. Analysis of two dried blood samples provided by the cyclist on July 8 and 13 during the 2022 Tour de France revealed the presence of tramadol and its two main metabolites,” the UCI announced on Thursday.
