French rider Alex Baudin was disqualified from the Giro due to the presence of Tramadol in his analyses.
New doping case in cycling? Not really. On Monday July 31, the UCI announced the disqualification of AG2R rider Alex Baudin. Samples taken on May 24, during the 17th stage of the Giro 2023, on Alex Baudin, revealed the presence of Tramadol, a banned painkiller. But if taking this synthetic opiate is a violation of the UCI medical regulations (the first for the runner), it is not “a violation of the anti-doping rules”, specified the body. However, since 2019, the UCI has banned the use of this widely used painkiller and will add it to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List on January 1, 2024.
In the meantime, Alex Baudin has ten days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In a press release published on Tuesday August 1, his AG2R Citroën team “takes note” of this disqualification of Alex Baudin from the Giro and puts his rider “in reserve” as a precaution. As a reminder, Nairo Quintana had been disqualified from the Tour de France 2022 for taking Tramadol.
