Colombian team handed 30-day racing ban following two doping cases in 2025

Colombian Continental team Medellin-EPM have been suspended from racing for 30 days after the team's riders were found to have committed two anti-doping rule violations within the same 12-month period.

The International Testing Agency (ITA) announced the decision on Tuesday, with the UCI Disciplinary Commission issuing the suspension.

As a result, the team will be out of action for 30 days from March 27, 2026, until April 25, 2026, in accordance with article 11.3 of the UCI's anti-doping rules.

The ban follows two riders on the team, Colombian racers Aldemar Reyes and Fabio Duarte, returning abnormalities in their Biological Passports during the 2025 season.

"On 10 June 2025, the Colombian rider Aldemar Reyes Ortega was notified by the National Anti-Doping Organisation of Colombia (Coldeportes) of an asserted ADRV, due to unexplained abnormalities in his ABP in the period around February and August 2023," the ITA announced.

"Then, on 21 August 2025, the Colombian rider Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo was notified by the Coldeportes of an ADRV, due to unexplained abnormalities in his ABP, also in February 2023, as well as between July and December 2024 and in January 2025."

The team, which this year includes 49-year-old Oscar Sevilla and former QuickStep sprinter Alvaro Hodeg, can challenge the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Otherwise, they will miss races including the Tour of Hainan, where Sevilla scored a top-10 placing last April.

Previous teams to have received a 30-day ban from racing following two anti-doping rule violations include Italian squads Androni Giocattoli in 2015, Bardiani CSF in 2017, Vini Zabù in 2021, and Portuguese squad Tavira last year.