AIGLE, Switzerland – Former Olympic cycling champion Samuel Sanchez was suspended Thursday after failing an out-of-competition doping test.
The International Cycling Union said the Spanish rider for BMC Racing tested positive for a growth hormone releasing peptide in a sample taken on Aug. 9.
Sanchez won the road race at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. He was supposed to race in the Spanish Vuelta, which starts Saturday.
His BMC team announced it was provisionally suspending Sanchez until the results come of the B sample test.
“BMC Racing Team is extremely disappointed to share this news on the eve of the Spanish Vuelta,” the team said.
Loic Vligen will replace the 39-year-old Sanchez on BMC’s team for the Vuelta.
