The UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal has handed now-retired cyclist Franck Bonnamour a four-year ban due to an 'unexplained abnormality' in his Athlete Biological Passport dating back to 2022.
The UCI confirmed the decision in a press release issued on Thursday, which stated that the suspension would be backdated to begin February 5, 2024, and will remain enforced until February 4, 2028.
"The Tribunal found that Franck Bonnamour had committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method due to an unexplained abnormality in his Athlete Biological Passport (*) in 2022. As a consequence, the Tribunal has imposed a four-year period of ineligibility on the rider," the statement read.
The UCI confirmed that Bonnamour's athlete's biological passport, which can be used to detect signs of doping over time, showed abnormal readings in 2022. Bonnamour completed the Tour de France in that year while racing for B&B Hotels-KTM.
However, it was earlier reported that Bonnamour's case was 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.
The sport governing body first announced his provisional suspension in February 2024, while he was in his second year of a contract with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, and no specifics were given on what aspect of the biological passport in which his values deviated from the norm.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale fired Bonnamour in late March 2024, citing the case that dated to "checks carried out before his arrival in the team on January 1, 2023."
In the meantime, Bonnamour continued to fight his case, insisting that he was innocent of the charges. However, he later announced his retirement during the investigation and stated that he ended his fight against the ban, citing financial strain.
"It's too costly in financial terms, so I'm stopping. We had to start proceedings before the UCI tribunal before going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport," Bonnamour told Ouest-Francein November of 2024.
"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."
