Summary The organisation said the ban for the Katusha team sprinter would be backdated to April 13 this year
Russian cyclist Denis Galimzyanov, who won the Paris-Brussels race in 2011, has been suspended for two years for doping, the country s anti-doping agency said in a statement on Thursday.
The organisation said the ban for the Katusha team sprinter would be backdated to April 13 this year. Galimzyanov tested positive for the banned blood booster erythropoetin (EPO) in March and was provosionally suspended by world cycling.
The 25-year-old from Yekaterinburg then admitted doping and declined the offer of a B sample test.
"What s happened with Galimzyanov only concerns him and has nothing to do with the team," Katusha coach Viatcheslav Ekimov was quoted as saying by the Ria Novosti news agency.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) governing body in November removed the Katusha team from the sport s top tier WorldTour races, notably accusing its management of not doing enough on anti-doping.
The team will now have to be invited to participate in the sport s biggest races.
Cycling is battling to restore its reputation after revelations of drug-taking by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. The US rider was stripped of his titles and banned from the sport for life.
