DOPING | UCI announces positive test for Colombian rider Germán Darío Gómez of Polti VisitMalta

The UCI has announced that Colombian rider Germán Darío Gómez Becerra has been notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding for the presence of boldenone and one of its metabolites in a sample collected out of competition on the 28th of December. The Team Polti VisitMalta rider has been suspended.

In line with the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the rider has been provisionally suspended and retains the right to request analysis of the B sample. The UCI stated it will make no further comment while the procedure is ongoing.

Germán Darío Gómez Becerra held a valid contract this season with Team Polti VisitMalta, the team he represented at the time the sample was collected.

Since January 2021, the UCI has delegated the operational activities of its anti-doping program to the International Testing Agency (ITA), while retaining results management and prosecution of anti-doping rule violations. Since then, clean cycling efforts have been led by the ITA Cycling Unit, dedicated specifically to all cycling disciplines. The UCI and ITA are bound by a services agreement that ensures the ITA acts independently.

Boldenone and its metabolites are listed on the Prohibited List under class S1.1 of anabolic androgenic steroids, according to the 2025 Prohibited List maintained by the World Anti-Doping Agency and adopted by the UCI.

The Colombian hit the spotlight in 2019 when at the World Championships' junior men's event, he suffered a mechanical and wasn't able to get a replacement bike, ending his race and putting him in tears.

Before the positive test, Germán Darío Gómez had compiled a series of standout results in both stage races and one-day events, especially at under-23 level and later in the pro calendar. In 2021 he reached the podium in the road race at the Junior Pan-American Games under-23 and finished fifth in the time trial at the same event, adding seventh in the time trial at the 2023 Pan American Championships. In 2022 he confirmed his progression on the European calendar with two third places at the Trofeo Piva and the Trofeo Città di San Vendemiano.

In stage races, his performance improved season by season. In 2023 he finished fourth overall at the Giro Next Gen, one of the most significant results of his career. In 2024 he was sixth overall at the Tour du Rwanda, where he also took a fifth place on a stage. In 2025 he added several notable general classification results internationally, placing sixth at the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye, 13th at the Tour de Langkawi and 12th at the Tour of Istanbul, along with 10th at the Mercan’Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes.