Mountain biker Klemencic, who competed for her nation at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and in London four years later, was hit with the suspension following the reanalysis of a sample taken on March 27.

The 35-year-old Slovenian won the 2004 European Marathon Championships title and finished third in the cross-country event at the recent European Mountain Bike Championships in Singen, Germany.

The announcement was made on the UCI website and follows Italy’s Giampaolo Caruso receiving the same punishment after his 2012 sample was found to have also contained EPO.

The list of provisional suspensions made by the UCI also included Russian Alexey Shmidt, whose sample from November 2011 tested positive for EPO.

It comes amid a new approach from world cycling’s governing body, who are aiming to conduct more re-tests of previous samples in light of scientific development in the area.

“As per the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI ADR, the UCI has established a Storage and Reanalysis Strategy,” a statement from the UCI read.

“The strategy, implemented by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), provides that samples from the leaders of the Grand Tours, UCI World Championships and general rankings of all cycling disciplines will be stored for potential retesting.

“Other samples, based on risk assessment carried out by the CADF, laboratory recommendations, Athlete Biological Passport data, new detection methods and scientific developments, will also be retained for retesting.

“The standard time of storage and further reanalysis under this strategy is up to 10 years.”



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