Gabrovski with Adverse Analytical Finding for EPO

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Ivailo Gabrovksi, a Bulgarian rider who had a spectacular stage win for a Continental-ranked Turkish team at the Tour of Turkey and went on to win the race tested positive for EPO after that stage win, the UCI has announced. He has been provisionally suspended.

“The decision to provisionally suspend this rider was made in response to a report from the WADA accredited laboratory in Athens indicating an Adverse Analytical Finding of EPO in a urine sample collected from him in a test during the Tour of Turkey on 24th April 2012,” the UCI said Wednesday afternoon. “Mr. Gabrovski has the right to request and attend the analysis of his B sample.”

Gabrovski, 34, turned pro in 2000. Over the years he has been with multiple teams, most recently with Team Konya Torku Seker Spor. He soloed to victory on the third and queen stage of the Tour of Turkey, in a way which “astonished a few people,” as Cyclingnews reported at the time.

That stage win moved him into the race lead, which he held on to until the end. He hoped to use the points and exposure he had gained to move to a WorldTour team.

Second overall in the race was Alexandr Dyachenko of Astana, who would move up to first place if the charges are upheld.

It is not his first conflict with anti-doping regulations. In 2003 he was prevented from racing the Driedaagse van West Vlaanderen when he came in over the hematocrit limit. In 2005, he was prevented from riding the world championship in Madrid after failing another blood test conducted by the UCI.