On the eve of its launch in Utrecht (Netherlands), the Colombian Nairo Quintana announced Thursday August 18 that he would not take the start of the Vuelta, the Tour of Spain cycling, of which he was one of the men to be continued. A day earlier, the climber from the French team Arkéa-Samsic had been disqualified from the Tour de France where he took sixth place last month. The International Cycling Union (UCI) justified its decision by revealing that two samples of the rider’s dried blood contained traces of tramadol, one of which had been taken on July 13 at the end of the 11e mountain stage at the top of the Col du Granon, where Quintana finished second behind Dane Jonas Vingegaard, the future winner of the event.
Since this is a first offense, the Colombian remained authorized to run in competition. But the winner of the Vuelta 2016 judged not to be “in good condition” to align, preferring ” to return [chez lui]organize and prepare [sa] defense about the news that [lui] has arrived”. In a press release, he assures us that he completely unaware of knowing and having used this substance during [sa] career. » He has ten days to inform the Court of Arbitration for Sport of his wish to appeal this decision.
The announcement also comes the day after the 32-year-old rider’s contract extension until 2025, announced by his team. In 2020, she had already been targeted in France by an investigation, opened for suspicion of doping without any guilt having been declared since.
Prohibited in racing, but not yet considered doping
Banned from racing since 2019 by the UCI, tramadol has not yet been included by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on its list of doping products, although it has placed it under surveillance for ten years. “It is perfectly legal for a runner to take tramadol as part of a prescription because he suffers from acute low back pain, for example. But in these conditions, he does not take the risk of being on a bike in the middle of the peloton “, explained Xavier Bigard, the medical director of the UCI.
“Without being generalized, there was misuse among some runners. Its primary function as an analgesic has been diverted to delay the onset of pain, which is the main factor limiting sports performance,” recalls Roger Legeay, former professional cyclist and co-founder fifteen years ago of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC), whose doctors from member teams had pledged from 2013 to no longer prescribe tramadol.
Drowsiness, dizziness: health risks for runners
Nevertheless, the UCI’s ban was primarily intended to « preserve the health and safety of the runner”, specifies the instance on its site. The decision had come to conclude a debate on the question of the massive falls observed in the race, and that the immediate side effects of tramadol, such as drowsiness or the appearance of dizziness, could have favored.
« On the Tour of Spain, I have already seen the Sky riders lead the peloton. Going up to their height when attacking a pass, I realized that the guys were sleeping on their bikes. I asked one of them a question, he was drooling and looked at me with a hallucinated look, testified in 2016 to Release a rider on condition of anonymity, two years after Canadian Michael Barry became the first rider to publicly denounce the abuse of tramadol in the peloton. Especially since the consumption of this opium derivative can lead to “a longer-term addiction”insists the doctor of one of the 15 formations affiliated to the MPCC out of the 17 in the ProTour category, the equivalent of the second division of world cycling, in addition to half of the 18 elite teams.
The Nairo Quintana case represents the first known positive test for tramadol since 2019. An exception in the eyes of Roger Legeay, who wants to believe that “This problem is now solved in cycling. This is not the case for Quintana who will re-examine the use of tramadol in the professional peloton. The last step is for WADA to put it on the list of doping products, and they are considering it. »
