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UCI Pro Continental team folds mid-season following two doping positives in 2019

Riders and staff face unemployment after Manzana Postobon ceases operation following second adverse analytical finding this year

Colombian UCI Pro Continental Team Manzana Postobon has raced its final race. After the UCI announced it had provisionally suspended Juan José Amador for a positive test for a banned steroid on Friday, the team has announced that it will immediately cease operation. It was the second positive test within the team in 2019 after the UCI provisionally suspended Wilmar Paredes in April for testing positive for EPO.

Manzana Postobon

The Colombian team was likely facing a suspension by the UCI after the second positive. According to the UCI rules, a team that registers two adverse analytical findings in a 12-month period faces a suspension of between 15 to 45 days.

The team began in 2006 as Colombia es Pasión and has played a significant role in Colombian cycling helping to develop Nairo Quintana, Esteban Chaves and Sergio Henao. The team held a strong anti-doping stance with internal testing but the two recent positives have damaged the team’s reputation to the point management has been forced to close the doors.

More recently, the team has graduated Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) and Hernando Bohórquez (Astana) to the WorldTour. Other graduates include Jarlinson Pantano (Trek-Segafredo) who was suspended for EPO earlier this year and Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) who was sidelined by his team for unusual physiological results.

In a statement, the team upheld their position that they had fought for clean cycling but that the problems within the sport ultimately doomed them.

“Due to the regrettable facts presented in the past weeks, in which athletes belonging to the professional cycling team have been implicated, we have made the decision not to continue with the professional cycling team, which is why, as of the date, the team will not participate in the competences foreseen in the national and international calendar,” president of Corporación Pedaleamos por Colombia Alejandro Restrepo Echavarría said.

Manzana Postobon

“We must thank all the sponsors who put faith in the team and supported us over the years. Without you, it wouldn’t have been possible to have achieved all the milestones we set ourselves. We had more, but, unfortunately, that problem that lingers in sport prevented us from moving forward.”

The team was sponsored by Colombian sports ministery Coldeportes for a time before Manzana Postobon came on in 2017 allowing the program to step up to the Pro Continental level participating in the Vuelta a España in 2017.

The announcement concluded by encouraging those in Colombia to continue fighting for clean sport.

“From the Corporación Pedaleamos por Colombia we call the athletes and cycling teams of the country, to strengthen the commitment to fight against doping, increase internal controls, integrally train runners to protect their environments. That is the best way to avoid situations such as those that make us say goodbye to cycling today.”