Updated August 21, 2025 09:17AM
Former Tour de France ‘Most Combative’ Rider Sanctioned by Anti-Doping Tribunal
Breakout rider of 2021 Tour de France Franck Bonnamour banned from competition by UCI due to abnormalities on biological passport.
(Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
The now-retired Frenchman Franck Bonnamour has been banned from competition after unexplained abnormalities were found in his biological passport.
Bonnamour, who retired last year, has been ruled ineligible by the UCI from February 2024 through to February 2028.
Bonnamour was one of the surprise sensations of the 2021 Tour de France when he debuted with Team B&B Hotels.
He spent more than 900km in the break and finished in the top-10 four times in what was just his first grand tour. He was awarded the race’s overall combativity prize for his efforts.
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However, testing during the 2022 season revealed abnormalities reportedly dating back through 2016 in Bonnamour’s biological passport.
He was provisionally suspended by the UCI at the start of last year and fired by his then-team Decathlon Ag2r-La Mondiale.
Bonnamour briefly fought his case before he cut his losses and retired in November last year.
“It’s too costly in financial terms, so I have to stop,” Bonnamour told Ouest-France of his defense case.
“We had to start proceedings before the UCI tribunal before going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. If we had been successful, the UCI would have appealed. That would have pushed back the deadline by a year-and-a-half, increasing the costs,” he said.
“I can’t afford to lose everything. It’s holding me back financially.”
The sanction will not impact the 30-year-old’s palmarès as he has not raced since January 2024.
The decision against Bonnamour may be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport for the next month.
Here’s the full UCI statement on Franck Bonnamour:
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announces that the UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal has rendered a decision against French rider Franck Bonnamour.
The Tribunal found that Franck Bonnamour had committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method due to an unexplained abnormality in his Athlete Biological Passport (*) in 2022. As a consequence, the Tribunal has imposed a four-year period of ineligibility on the rider.
The period of ineligibility started on 5 February 2024 and will remain in force until 4 February 2028 in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules.
Furthermore, in line with the Procedural Rules of the Anti-Doping Tribunal, the decision will be published on the UCI website. The decision may be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within one month.
