'I can't afford to lose everything' - Franck Bonnamour quits doping ban battle and retires, citing financial strain
French rider sold apartment to fund battle over biological passport ban, which is based on two tests in 2018 and 2022
Franck Bonnamour has announced that he's calling an end to his cycling career, citing the financial strain of attempting to fight against his suspension from racing over biological passport anomalies.
The UCI provisionally suspended the Frenchman in February over "unexplained anomalies in his biological passport", which reportedly arose following a test on stage 20 of the 2022 Tour de France.
Bonnamour's team, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, fired him in late March, having stated that the case dated to "checks carried out before his arrival in the team on January 1, 2023." In the meantime, he has continued to fight his case, insisting that he is innocent of the charges.
However, he announced on Thursday to Ouest-France that he is giving up the fight and choosing to retire from racing.
"It's too costly in financial terms so I'm stopping," Bonnamour said. "We had to start proceedings before the UCI tribunal before going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
"If we had been successful, the UCI would have appealed, which would have pushed back the deadline by a year-and-a-half, increasing the costs. I can't afford to lose everything and that's holding me back financially."
Bonnamour's abnormal profile dates back to his neo-pro season with Fortuneo-Vital Concept in 2016 when testing returned high haemoglobin levels. At the time of his provisional suspension, Samuel Meraffi, doctor at the B&B Hotels squad he raced with in 2021 and 2022, said "I have never noticed anything abnormal in his monitoring."
According to Pascal Chanteur, president of the French Riders' Union, Bonnamour's case is based on a test taken during the penultimate stage of the 2022 Tour de France – when Bonnamour is claimed to have been suffering COVID-19 symptoms and dehydration – and an out-of-competition test from October 2018.
"What interest would he have had in doing that?" Chanteur asked Ouest-France in June. "It's a total and flagrant injustice. I don't understand why no value is attached to the tests carried out in 2016, which showed an atypical profile. I don't understand why a year went by between this test at the end of the 2022 Tour de France and the UCI's notification."
Bonnamour sold his apartment to fund his battle against the UCI and has spent thousands of Euros hiring experts and lawyers, including €4,000 to a biologist who carried out an analysis "which clearly explained there was a possibility of a defence", he said.
"He could explain my atypical variations and profile. Before signing his report, he contacted me and my lawyer, telling me that he wouldn't be going any further because some of his research was funded by WADA. He gave up on us.
"It's been difficult for the last six months and I didn't want it to go on like this for two or three years. My priority is keeping my family together."
Bonnamour remains on the UCI's list of provisional suspensions, with the reason being 'Use of prohibited methods and/or prohibited substances' and faces a four-year ban from the sport.
His lawyer is negotiating the length of his final sanction and eventual fine, but Bonnamour accepts that he won't race again.
"My career is over. I've been through everything," he said. "There have been difficult moments, morale-wise, but I have the support of my family and I'm also receiving counselling.
"I'm afraid of the future, but I know what I have and haven't done."
With his retirement, Bonnamour ends an eight-year career in cycling. The 2013 junior European champion turned pro in 2016 and spent five years at Arkéa-Samsic before racing for two seasons at the now-defunct B&B Hotels and his final full 2023 season at Decathlon AG2R.
His best season came in 2021 when he finished a career-high 109th in the UCI rankings with 566 points.
That year, he won the Tour de France combativity prize after scoring four top-10 stage finishes. He also took podium spots at Paris-Tours and the Tour de Limousin and scored top-10 finishes at the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, Paris-Camembert, the Bretagne Classic-Ouest France and the Tour de Jura.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur. She writes and edits at Cyclingnews as well as running newsletter, social media, and how to watch campaigns.