Young Kazakh talent Ilkhan Dostiyev issued a four-year ban for use of CERA
Cycling
The hammer of justice caught up to Ilkhan Dostiyev who will serve a four-year ban for doping. The 22-year-old Kazakh tested positive for use of CERA twice within three weeks both in and out of competitions.
Dostiyev had been one of the revelations of 2024 with 2nd overall at Tour of Rwanda (2.1), stage wins at international U23 races Orlen Nations GP and Valle d'Aosta, or overall triumph at Turul Romaniei (2.2).
Then a shock came when UCI provisionally suspended Dostiyev on September 12. According to reports, Dostiyev internally admitted to use of prohibited substances and the team fired the Kazakh climber just a day later.
"We trusted Ilkhan Dostiyev as one of the team’s leaders and we had great expectations for him, which are now completely shattered," said the development team sports director Alexandr Shushemoin when the news first broke out four months ago.
Prior to the upsetting news, it had been rumoured that Dostiyev, who had a seemingly breakthrough first half of 2024, would go on to turn pro with Astana Qazaqstan (now XDS Astana Team). Whether these was already a contract signed between the two parties, we'll never know.
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The full statement issued by UCI follows below:
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that Kazakh rider Ilkhan Dostiyev has been sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of four years following an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for the presence of Methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (CERA)1 in two samples collected – as a result of intelligence-led testing – out-of-competition on 30 July 2024 and in-competition on 17 August 2024 during the Turul Romaniei (Tour of Romania).
In accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code (the Code) and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules (UCI ADR), the period of ineligibility started on 9 September 2024 and will remain in force until 8 September 2028.
The case has been resolved by way of an acceptance of consequences as provided for by the Code and the UCI ADR.
The UCI will not comment any further.
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- It's been like shooting fish in a barrel for the Portuguese anti-doping authority.
santiagobenites16-01-2025 - Then the article is stupid for talking about Visma's leaders in GTsvappaxbipmv15-01-2025
- Pain and death have long been distorted since the advent of mass gaming. Death is also a very ambiguous paradoxical topic religiously. I get that people get upset but when you pull your head out the sand and see what really goes on in the world, everywhere, anywhere at any time at every level, when you see certain ideologies, when you see what people do to each other, to kids for the sake of causes, emotions, perversion, kicks or money, the torture done by states, enemies, authorities or just sick individuals, this guy is not even a 6 on a scale of 10. To turn this into drama is like governments fighting plastic pollution with bans on single use straws. Please, these cases get treated, let’s focus more energy on the far worse ones that don’t. The last thing the world needs now is an army of Elons cherry picking examples of evil to hide the bigger picture. Flattening molehills on a mountain.Mistermaumau15-01-2025
- He’s just saying he wants to follow in the footsteps of someone like Roglic or Jonas, I doubt teams, races or exchanges have anything to do with his thinking.Mistermaumau15-01-2025
- He spent 0 races alongside Roglic, I don't understand what he's talking aboutvappaxbipmv15-01-2025
- I get it. Thanks.roadman5412115-01-2025
- His in form race weight is about 130lbs, he was about 120 last year.awp15-01-2025
- That TT was stage 16 of the '23 tour. He lost muscle mass after the crash last year that lightened him up a bit too much.awp15-01-2025
- That super time trial (I forget where?) he did where he blew everyone away was something special. If he gains weight that surely counts against him? What is the thinking on this then?roadman5412115-01-2025
- Yeah, maybe it’s just a Van de Poulidor thing, family is an important influence early in life and neither was very well rewarded by the Tour no matter how much they gave He’s more Van De than Poulidor and I think his main goal was accomplished, avenging the missing Yellow jersey, a GC win being off the table no matter how many Poulidor genes he inherited. He also knows that despite the incredible TdF résumé and respect his grandad (later*) had he sacrificed 15 years of it for a measly 7 stage wins and no real Tour recognition other than the rather ambiguously discerned title of “eternal second”. So on an emotional level I would understand he’s not losing any love here, if his team and sponsors accept then he must have been able to provide convincing arguments, that we’ll most likely never hear of. * Don’t forget the shit other riders put him through for accepting to be the first to be controlled for doping over which the others went on strike, I’m sure the little MVDP got some lasting negative impressions from some of the first hand accounts he got of how your peers can treat you when you don’t follow the herd.Mistermaumau15-01-2025