Nairo Quintana will miss La Vuelta but denies tramadol use, set to launch CAS appeal

Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) will miss La Vuelta in an attempt to clear his name after breaching an in-competition ban on painkiller tramadol.

However Quintana, who has denied ever using the substance, will skip the Vuelta to appeal his expulsion from the Tour at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“I am totally unaware of the use of this substance, and I deny having used it in my career,” said Quintana, who originally suggested he would compete in Spain.

“With my team of lawyers, we are exhausting all the processes for my defence.”

He later added: “I will not participate in the Vuelta to assert my reasons before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“I will return to the race calendar at the end of the season.

Quintana finished sixth at the Tour, 16’33” off overall winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma). It was his best performance at a Grand Tour since the 2019 Vuelta, where he came fourth.

“The analyses of two dried blood samples provided by the rider on 8 and 13 July during the 2022 Tour de France revealed the presence of tramadol and its two main metabolites,” read a UCI statement on Wednesday.

“In accordance with the UCI Medical Rules, the rider is disqualified from the 2022 Tour de France.

“Infringements of the in-competition ban on using tramadol are offences under the UCI Medical Rules. They do not constitute Anti-doping Rule Violations. As this is a first offence, Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas is not declared ineligible and can therefore participate in competitions.”

He has won the Giro d’Italia (2014), La Vuelta (2016) and finished on the Tour de France podium three times.

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