Johan Bruyneel is a common critic of the UCI and its actions, specially those from David Lappartient – and after the suspension of Oier Lazkano over biological passport anomalies, the Belgian pundit brings forward the point that cycling’s governing body may treat riders differently depending on their reputation.
“I don’t know Lazkano personally and I’m not defending him. I’m also a proponent of the blood passport. Something clearly changed when it was introduced in 2008. However, it’s not a ‘black and white method.’ It’s an expert interpretation,” Bruyneel said in The Move podcast.
Lazkano’s case last week has hit the cycling world hard, bringing down a rider whose growth over the past years had been impressive. The Spanish rider presented four different tests with unusual biological passport values from 2022 to 2024, but did not test positive for any substance.
He was only provisionally suspended, he was likely not able to explain the reason for those values. He has been subsequently fired from Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe, for whom he hadn’t raced since April of this year – reportedly the time where he had his phone, laptop and personal data apprehended by the police in an ongoing investigation.
“I’m surprised this biological passport never catches a big fish. It’s all about favoritism. The UCI is targeting its easy prey,” the former US Postal DS said. “I repeat: the biological passport is useful. But it should be used as a tool to identify potential cheaters so they can be caught during a proper doping test.”
Riders such as Froome being favouredHowever what Bruyneel does not understand is why some riders are able to find their way out of such complicated cases whilst others get suspended, and brings forward the case of Chris Froome who tested positive for an amount of Salbutamol higher than that allowed in competition for riders. This was explained by a bout of worsening asthma during the race. But not all riders’ explanations are accepted.
“His (Froome, ed.) explanation was sufficient, as was that of Katerina Nash, UCI vice-president, a former mountain biker who tested positive for capromorelin in 2022. Conversely, Belgian cyclocross rider Toon Aerts was suspended for two years. Double standards.”
Froome tested positive for Salbutamol in 2017, but was not suspended over it. @Imago