Henao cleared to race, Yates still waits

On Tuesday the UCI cleared Sergio Henao (Colombia/Sky) to race after a review of his biological passport. Meanwhile Simon Yates (Great Britain/Orica-GreenEdge) is still in limbo after testing positive for terbutaline in an in-competition Paris-Nice anti-doping test in March.

It was the second time that Henao had his biological passport flagged. In April 2014 his own team took him off the roster after test anomalies at altitude. Once he was tested at sea level, he returned to action at the June 2014 Tour de Suisse.

This time the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation informed him of abnormalities and Henao was given 20-days to explain variations on his biological passport from August 2011 to June 2015. He was withdrawn from racing by the team.

On a Facebook post team principal Dave Brailsford said he wasn’t surprised at the UCI’s ruling.

It’s unclear where Henao, whose last race was La Flèche Wallonne, will race next, but June’s Criterium Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse are possible.

Orica-GreenEdge’s doctors failed to get Simon Yates a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the asthma medication and the team sees the problem as a result of clerical error. Although Yates hasn’t been banned, he also has been withdrawn from competition until the matter is cleared up.

Last March, six-time Giro d’Italia stage winner Diego Ulissi (Italy/Lampre) completed a nine-month suspension of the asthma drug salbutamol in his Ventolin.

Yates is on the roster for Sunday’s start of the Criterium Dauphiné, but if the UCI has reached no decision by Saturday, Orica-GreenEdge will switch him to the team’s Tour de Suisse roster.