Source: Beltrán's B sample positive

Manuel Beltrán is taken away by the Gendarmerie

Manuel Beltrán is taken away by the Gendarmerie (Image credit: AFP)

Disgraced cyclist Manuel Beltrán's B sample has reportedly failed anti-doping tests. International news outlet Agence France-Presse has reported that a source close to the case, who doesn't wish to be named, has confirmed the failed test.

The French Anti-doping Agency (AFLD) announced on July 12 that the Liquigas rider had failed a test on the Tour de France's opening stage. The rider was thrown out of the Tour, as the French event's first positive test for 2008, and was suspended by his Italian ProTour squad.

Beltrán, one of Lance Armstrong's former mountain domestiques, has ridden for the Liquigas team since leaving the Discovery Channel in 2006. His Liquigas squad announced at the time it would fire the rider should the B sample result uphold the findings of his A sample.

Officials are expected to formally announce the results of Beltrán's B sample shortly. The news has also been published on lequipe.fr, the publication owned by the same company as the Tour.

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