The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) advises that the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal has rendered a decision against Australian rider Robert Stannard.
The Tribunal found that Robert Stannard committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) of use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method due to unexplained abnormalities in his Biological Passport (*) in 2018 and 2019. As a consequence, the Tribunal has imposed a four-year period of suspension on the rider as well as a monetary fine corresponding to 70% of his average annual salary in 2018 and 2019.
In accordance with the applicable rules, i.e. the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the Tribunal decided that the period of suspension shall start on 17 August 2018, i.e. the day of the appearance of the first abnormality, taking into account the delay with which the rider’s abnormalities were communicated to the UCI.
The decision is not final as it can be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by the rider, his National Federation and National Anti-Doping Agency, the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) within one month. The decision will be published on the UCI website once final.
The UCI will not comment further on the matter.
(*) The Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) is an individual electronic record for each rider, in which the results of all doping tests collected as part of the ABP programme over a given period are collated. The International Testing Agency (ITA), the independent entity in charge of the UCI anti-doping operational activities on behalf of the UCI, manages the ABP programme in collaboration with the Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) of Lausanne, Switzerland (the APMU of Lausanne is associated with the World Anti-Doping Agency accredited Laboratory of Lausanne). Athlete Biological Passport cases are prosecuted based on the opinion of an independent Expert Panel of the APMU.