Another rider suspended after biological passport flags irregularities

Carvalho raced with Continental outfit Feirense-Beeceler in 2025, and he spent five years with the W52-FC Porto team earlier in his career, before riding for Efapel. The 36-year-old is a three-time stage winner at the Volta a Portugal, and he finished third overall in the race in 2022 and 2023. 

“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that Portuguese rider António Carvalho Ferreira has been provisionally suspended in accordance with the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, due to unexplained abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport (*) in 2018, 2023 and 2024,” read a statement from the UCI on Tuesday afternoon.

Two years ago, Carvalho revealed to Portuguese newspaper Recordthat he was considering quitting the sport to open a pastry shop, though he went on to finish on the podium of the Volta a Portugal shortly afterwards.

The Carvalho case is a further blow to the credibility of Portuguese cycling after the doping scandal that led to the demise of the W52–FC Porto squad in 2022 and the 20-day suspension handed to APHotels & Resorts - Tavira - SC Farense following the biological passport cases of Venceslau Fernandes and Delio Fernandez Cruz over the past twelve months.

Carvalho’s is the second biological passport case to be announced by the UCI in recent days following news of Oier Lazkano’s provisional suspension. 

Lazkano has been provisionally suspended after anomalies were detected in his biological passport in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He joined Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe from Movistar ahead of the 2025 season, but he hadn’t raced since Paris-Roubaix in April.

The Basque rider has parted company with Red Bull, but he has denied wrongdoing and stated that he will take “all the necessary actions” to appeal the case. Lazkano faces a ban of up to four years.