Trek-Segafredo team manager Luca Guercilena has admitted that the news of Andre Cardoso’s positive test for EPO has hurt the team, but he is determined to put it behind him and focus on the upcoming Tour de France.
The UCI announced on Tuesday that Cardoso had returned a positive finding for the banned blood booster Erythropoietin (EPO) during an out-of-competition test on June 18. Cardoso was due to line-up at the Tour de France to support Alberto Contador but has since been suspended by the team.
"It's clear that the case hurts us quite badly, but as I've said, we know what we are doing, and we know what our line is, we turn the page," said Guercilena. "In this case, from the legal point, we will see what happens at the end. Right now, we need to focus on the race."
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When asked about it during his pre-Tour de France press conference, Contador, who was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title after testing positive for Clenbuterol, said that the news had "come as a surprise" to him. Koen de Kort, another new signing for the team over the winter, told Cyclingnews after the team presentation that the team had spoken briefly about it and said that using EPO was "stupid".
He also said, "It's good that some guys get caught as it means that testing works and deters people from doing a stupid thing, but that it's a teammate makes it a bit painful."
Guercilena said on Friday that he has spoken with his team about the case, but they are not "spending too much time" discussing it.
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