UCI suspends Spanish cyclist Oscar Sevilla for suspected blood doping at Tour of Colombia

UCI suspends Spain’s Sevilla for blood doping

AIGLE, Switzerland — Spanish rider Oscar Sevilla was provisionally suspended by the International Cycling Union on Thursday for suspected blood doping, four years after he was connected to the Operation Puerto investigation.

The UCI said Sevilla tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch — which increases blood volume — in a urine sample taken at the Tour of Colombia last month.

Sevilla joined a Colombian team this season following two years with the U.S.-based Rock Racing squad, which folded after the UCI denied it a license to race.

Sevilla is suspended until the Spanish Cycling Federation holds a disciplinary hearing. The 33-year-old rider can request and attend a laboratory analysis of his backup sample.

He raced the 2005-06 seasons for German team T-Mobile but was fired because of alleged connections to the Puerto doping case in Spain.

Sevilla and teammate Jan Ullrich were prevented from racing in the 2006 Tour de France after the investigation into an alleged athletes’ doping ring was publicized. No case was brought against Sevilla.

At the 2001 Tour, Sevilla led the best young rider classification and finished seventh overall. Later that season, he was runner-up in the Spanish Vuelta.