Quintana's lawyer assures "there was no tramadol in Nairo's system"

Nairo Quintana has been under the spotlight for negative reasons, as his positive results for tramadol have seen his Tour de France results nullified, and he has abandoned the Vuelta a Espana in order to focus on his defense.

Andrés Charria, Quintana's lawyer, has said in an interview with Blu Radio that "the truth is, it's a very strange process. What's happening with Nairo is something new, that the UCI has concocted. This is not doping, but it appears like doping."

Quintana tested positive for tramadol, a painkiller which is prohibited in competition and was stripped of his Tour de France result. "It's important to ask what the UCI is looking for, because if it's about health, that's a fundamental pillar of WADA, and if WADA doesn't consider it harmful on health grounds... it's complicated," he argumented.

"The sample wasn't analysed in a WADA-accredited lab," he said. "OK, I know it's not a doping case, but they have access to the WADA lab, so why not use it? We don't know where the sample was stored, there is no B-sample... it's strange. I'm sure the process itself is reliable, but who carries it out, how they carry it out - all that is not so clear".

"These are protocols the UCI has concocted. The UCI may be good at organising the sport of cycling but I'm not sure it's very good at carrying out hard research or making protocols for a substance," he accused. The arguments against Quintana's use of the substance were not clear, however Charria is clear on the discussion.

"Nairo assures me - and I believe him - that he did not consume tramadol. We have to do some analysis to see what happened. There was no tramadol in Nairo's system. We need to find a pharmacologist who can say what might have happened," he concluded.