Former WorldTour rider Vinicius Rangel Costa banned for 20 months over whereabouts failures

According to the press release, Rangel had three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period, but the announcement did not specify when that period was. Rangel accepted a 20-month suspension from August 27, 2025, to April 26, 2027.

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Since leaving the Movistar Team, Rangel joined a Brazilian continental team, Swift Pro Cycling, and has competed only in national-level races in South America. He won a stage of the Vuelta del Uruguay in April and finished second overall.

Sanctions for whereabouts failures have been rare since the implementation of the ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration & Management System) in 2004, which, according to WADA, “is designed to be a secure and cost-free web-based system that centralizes doping control-related information such as athlete whereabouts, testing history, laboratory results, the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and information on Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs).”

French and Belgian athletes have challenged the whereabouts requirements, arguing it violated the European Convention on Human Rights, but the case was rejected by unanimous decision.