Alberto Rui Costa (Caisse d'Epargne) (Image credit: Patrik Pátek)
The Portuguese federation has revealed that Caisse d’Epargne’s Rui Costa and his brother Mario, who rides for the Barbot team, have tested positive for Methylhexanamine. The tests were conducted during the Portuguese national championships at the end of June. Rui Costa took the national time trial title during the championships, while his brother finished third.
Costa, 24, had been unable to secure a new deal with what will become the Movistar team in 2011. Reportedly in dispute with team boss Eusebio Unzue, he has not ridden for the team since he finished the Tour de France on July 25.
Writing on his Facebook page, Costa has said that he believes that he ingested the product concerned in a dietary supplement. He denies doping.
Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling. He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014).
