After Lazkano and Rangel, UCI rocks peloton with another doping-related suspension

The wave of anti-doping headlines in professional cycling has continued, with the UCI confirming the provisional suspension of Portuguese rider António Carvalho Ferreira. The announcement arrives fresh after high-profile cases involving Oier Lazkano and Vinicius Rangel, marking a turbulent spell for the sport’s integrity efforts.

In a short statement, cycling’s governing body revealed that Carvalho Ferreira has been sidelined following “unexplained abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport… in 2018, 2023 and 2024.”

The UCI added: “The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that Portuguese rider António Carvalho Ferreira has been provisionally suspended in accordance with the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, due to unexplained abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport (*) in 2018, 2023 and 2024.”

The rider has been provisionally suspended pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings, and the UCI has stated it will make no further comment while the process continues.

The statement also reiterated the role of cycling’s Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) system, describing it as an electronic monitoring profile tracking data over time to flag potential doping indicators.

“The Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) is an individual electronic record for each rider, in which the results of all doping tests collected as part of the ABP programme over a given period are collated.”

The programme is operated by the International Testing Agency, with analysis supported by the Lausanne APMU and an independent expert panel.

Carvalho Ferreira now joins a rapidly developing list of riders facing provisional suspensions tied to passport anomalies. In the space of just over a week, both Oier Lazkano and Vinicius Rangel were also suspended, although the latter for missing tests rather than biological passport issues – prompting fresh debate around anti-doping vigilance and team due-diligence practices.

While none of the cases have yet been adjudicated, the cluster of suspensions has inevitably sharpened scrutiny across the professional peloton. The UCI has repeatedly argued that such detections reflect a system functioning as intended, with cycling historically among the most aggressive sports in biological monitoring and data-driven enforcement.

For now, Carvalho Ferreira remains suspended while proceedings continue, with the UCI and ITA to determine whether an anti-doping rule violation will be confirmed.