"Tramadol is not something you produce yourself" - David Lappartient confident that Quintana's defense will not succeed

Tramadol positive tests have led Nairo Quintana to have his Tour de France results stripped, and the UCI is adamant that the suspension was well applied. David Lappartient, UCI president, has talked about the case.

“It’s right to appeal the decision so I have no comment on this, however, we have been able to find tramadol at two different stages. That’s not just one, it’s two. When you know that tramadol disappears very quickly then it can’t be that it was only [taken] one time,” he said regarding the Colombian's case. During the Tour, two blood samples have shown the presence of Tramadol, a painkiller which is currently not banned by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency), but is by the UCI which has seen him not suspended, but loosing his results - and points - from the Grand Boucle.

With the WADA recently announcing the ban of the substance in competition - from 2024 onwards - the case will become further complicated for the Colombian, who has not raced the Vuelta a Espana in order to work on his defense. “The rider claims that he never took tramadol, but tramadol is not something you produce yourself and if you have tramadol it’s not coming directly from your body," Lappartient stated.

"We’ve been able to find tramadol two times so we are quite confident and our arguments when we took the decision to ban tramadol will also explain the reason why we took the decision," he added.

Recently, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has announced they will too be banning Tramadol in competition from 2024 onwards, a decision well received by the UCI. "I really welcome the WADA decision. Cycling has been pushing for a long time to ban tramadol in cycling and of course, we explained to WADA that our priority is safety, but we also believe in the credibility of the sport," Lappartient said.