Team Sky’s Sergio Henao is free to return to racing after the Athlete Passport Management Unite (APMU) found no basis to proceed further following a review of his ABP values.
Henao was withdrawn from racing in the spring, missing La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege as a result.
Team Sky issued a statement at the time stating that, having conducted their own internal review into Henao’s blood values, as a result of living and training at altitude, in 2014 backing the Colombian.
And the 28-year-old will be free to race again after the independent experts of the APMU reviewed the rider’s explanations for his blood values.
A short UCI statement read: “On 20 April 2016, in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) Operating Guidelines, the independent experts of the Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU) in Lausanne, Switzerland, requested further information from Sergio Henao about his ABP values.
“As per the applicable ABP regulations, the rider’s explanations were sent to the same experts for review. After examination, the independent experts came to the conclusion that there was no basis to proceed further.
“In light of the confidential nature of the information concerned, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) are not in a position to comment further.”
Henao finished third at the Santos Tour Down Under and second at the Tour of the Basque Country before his withdrawal from racing, and could return for the Tour de Suisse – as he did two years ago, only to then suffer a training crash prior to the seventh stage.
And Team Sky’s team principal Sir Dave Brailsford is pleased to be able to welcome Henao back.
He said: “We are pleased but not surprised by this outcome. We have always believed in Sergio and he has always had our full support.
“This decision obviously means he can now get back to racing and I am sure he will be ready to make a big contribution to the team during the rest of the season.
“What this process has highlighted is the gap in research regarding the physiology of athletes like Sergio who are born and raised at altitude and who continue to spend prolonged periods of time living at altitude.
“This is something I am sure that the anti-doping authorities will want to look at further in the interests of clean competition but also in the interests of others like Sergio.”
Henao admitted his withdrawal from racing had been tough, but insists he knew the correct outcome would come of the review.
“I am happy that this is finally over,” he added. “It’s been a difficult period for me but I know I have done nothing wrong, so I was confident that the UCI would come to this decision. I am looking forward to getting back on the team and racing.”
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