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Franck Bonnamour has introduced that he’s calling an finish to his biking profession, citing the monetary pressure of making an attempt to struggle in opposition to his suspension from racing over organic passport anomalies.
The UCI provisionally suspended the Frenchman in February over “unexplained anomalies in his organic passport”, which reportedly arose following a take a look at on stage 20 of the 2022 Tour de France.
Bonnamour’s workforce, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, fired him in late March, having acknowledged that the case dated to “checks carried out earlier than his arrival within the workforce on January 1, 2023.” Within the meantime, he has continued to struggle his case, insisting that he’s harmless of the fees.
Nevertheless, he introduced on Thursday to Ouest-France that he’s giving up the struggle and selecting to retire from racing.
“It’s too expensive in monetary phrases so I’m stopping,” Bonnamour mentioned. “We needed to begin proceedings earlier than the UCI tribunal earlier than going to the Court docket of Arbitration for Sport.
“If we had been profitable, the UCI would have appealed, which might have pushed again the deadline by a year-and-a-half, growing the prices. I can’t afford to lose all the things and that’s holding me again financially.”
Bonnamour’s irregular profile dates again to his neo-pro season with Fortuneo-Very important Idea in 2016 when testing returned excessive haemoglobin ranges. On the time of his provisional suspension, Samuel Meraffi, physician on the B&B Lodges squad he raced with in 2021 and 2022, mentioned “I’ve by no means observed something irregular in his monitoring.”
Based on Pascal Chanteur, president of the French Riders’ Union, Bonnamour’s case relies on a take a look at taken through the penultimate stage of the 2022 Tour de France – when Bonnamour is claimed to have been struggling COVID-19 signs and dehydration – and an out-of-competition take a look at from October 2018.
“What curiosity would he have had in doing that?” Chanteur requested Ouest-France in June. “It’s a complete and flagrant injustice. I don’t perceive why no worth is hooked up to the exams carried out in 2016, which confirmed an atypical profile. I don’t perceive why a yr glided by between this take a look at on the finish of the 2022 Tour de France and the UCI’s notification.”
Bonnamour offered his residence to fund his battle in opposition to the UCI and has spent hundreds of Euros hiring specialists and legal professionals, together with €4,000 to a biologist who carried out an evaluation “which clearly defined there was a chance of a defence”, he mentioned.
“He might clarify my atypical variations and profile. Earlier than signing his report, he contacted me and my lawyer, telling me that he wouldn’t be going any additional as a result of a few of his analysis was funded by WADA. He gave up on us.
“It’s been troublesome for the final six months and I didn’t need it to go on like this for 2 or three years. My precedence is holding my household collectively.”
Bonnamour stays on the UCI’s listing of provisional suspensions, with the reason is ‘Use of prohibited strategies and/or prohibited substances’ and faces a four-year ban from the game.
His lawyer is negotiating the size of his last sanction and eventual tremendous, however Bonnamour accepts that he gained’t race once more.
“My profession is over. I’ve been by all the things,” he mentioned. “There have been troublesome moments, morale-wise, however I’ve the help of my household and I’m additionally receiving counselling.
“I’m afraid of the longer term, however I do know what I’ve and haven’t achieved.”
Along with his retirement, Bonnamour ends an eight-year profession in biking. The 2013 junior European champion turned professional in 2016 and spent 5 years at Arkéa-Samsic earlier than racing for 2 seasons on the now-defunct B&B Lodges and his last full 2023 season at Decathlon AG2R.
His finest season got here in 2021 when he completed a career-high 109th within the UCI rankings with 566 factors.
That yr, he gained the Tour de France combativity prize after scoring 4 top-10 stage finishes. He additionally took podium spots at Paris-Excursions and the Tour de Limousin and scored top-10 finishes on the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, Paris-Camembert, the Bretagne Basic-Ouest France and the Tour de Jura.
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