Kazakhstan's brightest GC talent provisionally suspended after testing positive for CERA

The future of Kazakhstan's cycling didn't look very bright for a long time. Despite the best efforts to find a successor to the country's long-time flag-bearer Alexey Lutsenko, there wasn't much to be optimistic about until the very recent revelation of Ilkhan Dostiyev.

Dostiyev had previously shown potential at smaller races mainly in Greece, Turkiye and in Asian races. He started to make a name for himself early in the 2023 with podium finish in a stage of the (among continental teams) very popular season opener Visit South Aegean Islands Tour (2.2). Later Dostiyev took his first UCI victory at the mountain stage of Tour of Bostonliq II (1.2) and continued to add couple top-10 finishes to his palmares.

This was enough to put him among the candidates for a future WorldTour promotion with Astana. For his last year among promises, Dostiyev made a move from the Continental Vino SKO Team to Astana Development Team. There he received the ultimate opportunity to prove himself worthy of a spot at the WorldTour squad.

And to the surprise of many, the 22-year-old Kazakh did just that. Straight off the bat, he shocked with a 2nd overall at Tour of Rwanda (2.1) against riders such as Pierre Latour. His start on the European scene was a bit more steady, but two podium finishes including a stage win at the Orlen GP (2.NC) confirmed his potential.

Yet the best of Dostiyev was yet to come at one of the biggest U23 events of the year - Giro della Valle d'Aosta - where many of the top climbing prospects gather every year. The race was won by Jarno Widar, while Pablo Torres took the final stage. But the biggest surprise was Ilkhan Dostiyev who took the first stage, finished twice in two more stages and eventually concluded the race as runner-up also in the GC.

One month later, Dostiyev also won the Turul Romaniei (2.2) after his teammate, and GC leader at the time, Rudolf Remkhi abandoned the race. Dostiyev made one more appearance at the Tour of Hainan (2.Pro) alongside the WorldTour team and that's it.

Today, the news quickly spread that the 22-year-old athlete was added on the list of provisionally suspended cyclists by UCI. The Kazakh tested positive for use of prohibited substance CERA (similar to EPO) during an off-competition contol on the July 30.

CERA has been around for about two decades and one of its most famous "users" was Riccardo Ricco, second man of the 2008 Giro d'Italia who received a life-time ban following a series of repeated doping violations in 2011.