Movistar suspend Roson after UCI open biological passport investigation

Jaime Roson has been provisionally suspended from racing following an adverse analytical finding (AAF) on his UCI biological passport. The AAF had occurred in January 2017, while Roson was still competing at Caja-Rural.

Movistar’s holding company Abarca Sports confirmed in a press release.

“The Abarca Sports organisation received yesterday evening, Wednesday 27th June 2018, an official communication from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) where it was notified of the provisional suspension of its rider Jaime Rosón García, due to an adverse analytical finding in his biological passport, dated January 2017, nearly one year before joining the team.” 

Roson has been suspended for the foreseeable future but Movistar are adamant that there has been nothing out of the ordinary in his health checks and biological passport since moving to the squad earlier this year. Movistar say they will work with Roson to find out the reasons behind the AAF.

“Since he joined the team during the current 2018 season, the rider’s behaviour, health analytics and biological passport values have been irreproachable,” the statement from Movistar said. “Because of that, our team will cooperate with the rider to try and find an explanation to this case, whose resolution we abide by and understand, by virtue of the UCI’s rules and regulations.

“As an advocate of cycling’s credibility and fair play, and following the UCI’s Anti-Doping Rules, our team provisionally suspends its working relationship with the rider.”

The 25-year-old from Zamora, Spain, joined Movistar at the start of this season following a strong 2017 with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. Along with Marc Soler, he has been one of the team’s rising stage racing talents. So far this year, he has won the Vuelta a Aragon and finished in the top 10 of the Volta ao Algarve and Tirreno-Adriatico. He last raced at the Criterium du Dauphine and was not due to ride the forthcoming Tour de France.

“With reference to the communication received today of a process undertaken from the UCI in regards to my assumed violation of the anti-doping normative,” Roson wrote in a statement sent to Cyclingnews and members of the Spanish press. “I declare myself foreign to the use of any substance and/or doping method, and I will take care to defend myself in any place to prove my own innocence.”

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