UCI suspends Portuguese Continental team for doping violations

The UCI has announced that Portuguese Continental outfit APHotels & Resorts - Tavira - SC Farense will be suspended for 20 days after the team recorded two anti-doping violations within a twelve-month period. 

APHotels & Resorts riders Venceslau Fernandes and Delio Fernandez Cruz were both snared by the biological passport over the past year. Fernandes was notified of abnormalities in his biological passport in November 2024, while Fernandez Cruz was notified in July of this year.

The two doping cases mean that APHotels & Resorts must now serve a 20-day suspension, which will take place from October 23 to November 11.

“The UCI Anti-Doping Rules provide for the suspension of a team when two of its riders receive notice of an asserted anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) arising from an Adverse Passport Finding which occurred during the same 12-month period,” read a statement from the UCI.

“In this context, the relevant dates to determine if the commission of the two violations occurred within the same twelve-month period shall be the period of time during which the riders used a Prohibited Method or a Prohibited Substance according to the Expert Panel’s evaluation of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP).

“On 7 November 2024, the Portuguese rider Venceslau Fernandes was notified by the National Anti-Doping Agency of Portugal (ADoP) of an ADRV, due to unexplained abnormalities in his ABP in 2023. Then, on 22 July 2025, the Spanish rider Delio Fernandez Cruz was notified by the UCI of an ADRV, due to unexplained abnormalities in his ABP also in 2023.”

APHotels & Resorts - Tavira - SC Farense are the second Portuguese squad to be suspended by the UCI in recent seasons due to doping offences. W52-FC Porto had their licence revoked in 2022 amid a doping investigation in Portugal and the team disbanded at the end of that season. Eight riders from the team later served doping bans.