Beijing Olympic gold winning cyclist Samuel Sanchez gives positive drug test

A file photo shows Spanish cyclist Samuel Sanchez (R) in action during the sixth stage of La Vuelta cycling tour between Monforte de Lemos and Ribeira Sacra of 163,2 kilometres in Galicia, northwestern Spain, on August 25, 2016. [Photo: Imagine China]

Spanish cyclist Samuel Sanchez, who won the gold medal in the men's road race in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has been suspended following a positive drugs tests, the International Union of Cycling (UCI) has announced.

The UCI confirmed the test result in a press communiqué explaining Sanchez "was notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) of GHRP-2* in a sample collected in the scope of out-of-competition control on 9 August 2017."

"The doping control was planned and carried out by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), the independent body mandated by the UCI, in charge of defining and implementing the anti-doping strategy in cycling."

"In accordance with UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the rider has been provisionally suspended until the adjudication of the affair," meaning 39-year-old Sanchez will not compete for the BMC team in the Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain) cycling race due to start on Saturday.

Sanchez has denied drug taking, saying his lawyers had told him "not to make declarations because we have to wait for the tests on the B sample."

"This is an adverse result, not a positive," he said, adding "I am 39 years old, I have been cycling for 19 years, why would I do that?"