On the morning of the race, however, the UCI opened a biological passport case against Team Sky's Sergio Henao; the team withdrew him from all racing and he did not start La Flèche Wallonne.
(meta data) TITLE: UCI opens biological passport case against Sergio Henao | Cyclingnews.com (meta data) PUBLISHER: https://www.facebook.com/cyclingnews (meta data) PUBLISHED DATETIME: 2014-03-26 10:36 By Daniel Benson & Patrick Fletcher April 20, 2016 8:30am Updated: April 20, 2016 12:12pm # UCI opens biological passport case against Sergio Henao Colombian once again pulled from racing by Team Sky 1 / 5 Sergio Henao (Sky) (Bettini Photo)2 / 5 Sergio Henao (Team Sky) (Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)3 / 5 Second place went to Sergio Henao (Team Sky) (Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)4 / 5 Sergio Henao won the points classitication (Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)5 / 5 Sergio Henao (Sky) (Bettini Photo) Skip AdSkip Ad The Cycling Anti Doping Foundation (CADF), the anti-doping arm of the UCI, has opened a biological passport case against Sergio Henao, who as a result has been temporarily withdrawn from racing by Team Sky for the second time in his career. The Colombian has 20 days to respond to the CADF's request for more information and explanations relating to his blood profile from a period between August 2011 to June 2015. ### Related Articles Henao speaks about Team Sky withdrawing him from competitionDoes Colombia's anti-doping stand up to scrutiny?Henao could be cleared to race in the next two weeksHenao cleared to race the Tour de Suisse with Team SkyTeam Sky: We believe in Sergio Henao Henao was sent a letter earlier this week informing him of a "potential anti-doping rule violation" and that he has 20 days in which to respond. The rider posted a reaction on the Team Sky website - where the news first broke - saying: "I am beyond disappointed. I have worked incredibly hard to get back to racing fitness after shattering my knee last year - but I know who I am, how hard I have worked and the sacrifices I have made to be where I am today." "I am calm and confident that this will be resolved soon so I can get back to racing as soon as possible." The UCI responded to Cyclingnews' request for a comment, saying: "As per the applicable regulations, when the independent experts in charge of reviewing biological passport profiles require further information from the athlete, this stage is confidential. However, given that this is already in the public domain, the UCI and CADF confirm that Sergio Henao has been asked to provide explanations for his ABP values. As per WADA's ABP process, once provided, his explanations will be sent back to the same experts for review and assessment. In the meantime, the UCI and CADF cannot comment further." Henao was first withdrawn from racing in March 2014 and was subsequently placed on a Team Sky 'altitude research programme' of testing. At the time Team Sky contacted the CADF with their findings, which were based on a test done in October 2013 when Henao was back in Colombia. The test was part of the UCI's out-of-competition testing programme. In June of 2014 he was cleared to race by his team after an internal investigation and urine and blood tests cleared him of any wrongdoing. He returned to racing at the Tour de Suisse. At the time of clearing Henao, Team Sky confirmed that their internal testing programme was conducted by a team from the University of Sheffield with the cooperation of the Colombian anti-doping authorities. Speaking to Cyclingnews in March 2014, Dave Brailsford said: "We were left with three choices. One was let him carry on and then see whether in seven months' time he gets a letter from the UCI or not, we could stop him totally and say we're not happy with the situation but because it's new information that would be very harsh. So we decided on a third option where we try and find new a approach but it's a very difficult situation." Read more Does Colombia's anti-doping stand up to scrutiny?Henao speaks about Team Sky withdrawing him from competition - 2014Henao cleared to race the Tour de Suisse with Team Sky - 2014Sergio Henao taken off Sky roster due to test anomalies- 2014 The 2014 testing programme started in Europe, continued for six-weeks at altitude in Colombia and finished with final base-level tests in Nice. The findings were given to WADA, the UCI and CADF and that all urine tests are in the rider's biological passport. The team added at the time that the medical experts would look to publish a full medical paper, although this has not yet materialised. "The physiology of 'altitude natives' is a complex area," Brailsford said in relation to today's news. "The science is limited and in recent years we have proactively sought to understand it better by undertaking detailed scientific research - both for Sergio and for the benefit of clean sport more widely. We recognise why the CADF have raised this issue as it is one we have obviously raised ourselves. Thus far Sergio's data has been anonymous to the CADF experts. We hope and believe they will reach the same conclusions when they consider the background and all the evidence over the coming weeks. "We believe in Sergio. He has just come back to full fitness after spending eight months recovering from a potentially career ending crash. But we respect the CADF process and will apply our team policy in the circumstances." ## Related Articles ## Henao speaks about Team Sky withdrawing him from competition An out of competition blood test done in Colombia on Jan 14 March 26, 2014 10:36am ## Does Colombia's anti-doping stand up to scrutiny? No out of competition blood tests until October 2013 March 28, 2014 3:20pm ## Henao could be cleared to race in the next two weeks Colombian to be named as reserve for Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse May 28, 2014 5:55pm ## Henao cleared to race the Tour de Suisse with Team Sky Colombian to line up with Bradley Wiggins for nine-day race June 11, 2014 11:30am ## Team Sky: We believe in Sergio Henao Rider pulled from racing as CADF investigate biological passport profile April 20, 2016 12:37pm ### Related Riders #### Sergio Luis Henao Montoya ### Related Teams #### Team Sky ### Cyclingnews Newsletter #### Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter, from Immediate Media Company Limited. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy Back to top We'd love to hear what you think Submit Feedback
train21529
2016 La Flèche Wallonne
Teams.
The race organisers invited 25 teams to participate in the 2016 La Flèche Wallonne. As it is a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad. An additional seven UCI Professional Continental teams were given wildcard entries. These included three French teams (Cofidis, Delko–Marseille Provence KTM and Fortuneo–Vital Concept), two Belgian teams (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise and Wanty–Groupe Gobert), a Dutch team (Roompot–Oranje Peloton) and a German team (Stölting Service Group). Each team was entitled to enter eight riders, so the start list included 200 riders.