By Emily Goddard

Roman Kreuziger has had his CAS appeal against a provisional suspension rejected ©Getty ImagesRoman Kreuziger has had his appeal against a provisional suspension from the International Cycling Union (UCI) on alleged doping violations rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The Czech cyclist was hit with the ban from competition at the beginning of this month pending an investigation into a possible anti-doping offence after the sport's world governing body identified irregularities in his biological passport dating back to 2011 and 2012, during which time he riding for the Astana team and won a stage on the 2012 Giro d'Italia.

Kreuziger has since insisted he has done nothing wrong and claims the UCI is breaking its own rules by imposing a suspension without a positive A sample being provided.

The alleged anti-doping violation dates back to when Roman Kreuziger was riding for the Astana team ©Getty ImagesThe alleged anti-doping violation dates back to when Roman Kreuziger was riding for the Astana team ©Getty Images

His Tinkoff-Saxo team, which withdrew him from the Tour de France while they gathered more information about the apparent abnormalities in his blood profile, were also critical of the provisional suspension.

They said there was no "solid evidence of any wrongdoing".

However, a CAS team of Austrian Michael Geistlinger, Sweden's Lars Nilsson and Bernhard Welten of Switzerland, which sped up the investigation at Kreuziger's request, upheld the UCI's decision to provisionally suspend the rider.

"The rider sought to overturn such suspension in order to be able to compete in the 2014 Tour of Spain and possibly in the UCI World Road Championships," the CAS said in a statement.

"Roman Kreuziger remains provisionally suspended pending a decision on his alleged anti-doping rule violation."

The UCI welcomed the decision, but reiterated that the action taken against Kreuziger is "only a provisional suspension and that the hearing to decide on whether or not the rider has committed a doping offence will follow".

"The Union Cycliste Internationale is pleased with the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold the provisional suspension imposed on rider Roman Kreuziger," a statement from the federation added.

"This decision is a recognition of the reliability of the Athlete Biological Passport and the measures taken by the UCI to date in this case."

The CAS' decision rules Kreuziger out of this month's Vuelta a España, due to get underway on Saturday (August 23).

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