Veteran Óscar Sevilla’s Medellín-EPM team banned for 30 days after passport violations involving two former riders.
Colombian team Medellín, shown here in 2023, was suspended in latest biological passport case. (Photo: Getty Images)
Published March 11, 2026 05:30AM
Anti-doping authorities suspended an entire Colombian cycling team for biological passport violations involving two riders that triggered a rare team-wide sanction.
Colombian Continental squad Medellín-EPM will be sidelined for 30 days following a ruling by the UCI Disciplinary Commission, the International Testing Agency confirmed overnight.
The sanction runs from March 27 to April 25 under UCI anti-doping rules that include suspension of a team when two riders or staff are cited for anti-doping rule violations within the same 12-month period, officials said Tuesday.
The case centers on Colombian riders Aldemar Reyes Ortega and Fabio Andrés Duarte Arévalo, who were notified in 2025 of abnormalities detected in their biological passports, the monitoring system used to track blood markers.
According to the ITA — which now runs the anti-doping program for the UCI — Reyes, 30, was informed by Colombia’s national anti-doping body of unexplained levels in his biological passport for samples collected in February and August 2023.
Duarte, 39, was also notified of similar passport irregularities in samples from February 2023, as well as between July and December 2024 and in January 2025.
Neither rider has raced for Medellín-EPM since the 2024 season.
The was no official reaction from the Colombian team, founded in 2017.
The suspension sidelines one of Colombia’s best-known domestic squads, which includes veteran Spanish rider Óscar Sevilla.
Now 49, Sevilla has raced primarily in Colombia since 2011 following a doping suspension earlier in his career. The roster also includes Colombian sprinter Álvaro José Hodeg, formerly of UAE Emirates-XRG.
The disciplinary ruling can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, officials said.
The case comes amid a recent uptick in biological passport enforcement.
In one recent WorldTour case, former Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider Oier Lazkano was cited for biological passport violations linked to samples from his earlier stint with Movistar.
Lazkano was fired by Red Bull, and he’s publicly denied doping allegations.