Spanish cyclist tests positive for banned drug

Spanish cyclist Moises Duenas Nevado has tested positive for a banned drug during the Tour de France, a top French anti-doping official said today.

A top French anti-doping official says Spanish rider Moises Duenas Nevado has tested positive for EPO during the Tour de France.

A police official said authorities were approaching the rider – currently 19th in the overall Tour standings after 10 stages – at the hotel of his Barloworld team in the south-western town of Tarbes.

Pierre Bordry, the head of the French anti-doping agency, said Duenas Nevado tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO after the fourth stage on July 8 in Cholet, the site of the race’s first time trial.

The case marks the second positive EPO test this year involving a Tour rider. Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran was questioned by police and sent home after testing positive after the first stage.