Two Portuguese cyclists suspended long-term over biological passport issues

The Portuguese anti-doping authority (ADoP) has suspended two cyclists for a long period: Venceslau Fernandes (30) and Rafael Silva (35). Fernandes received a six-year suspension. For the now-retired Rafael Silva, the ban is for four years.

The 30-year-old Fernandes won the 2018 Tour of Portugal for U23 riders. However, he was never able to meet the expectations that arose when he turned professional. In 2024—the year he was provisionally suspended due to suspicious fluctuations in his biological passport—he raced for the continental team APHotels & Resorts/Tavira/SC Farense from his home country Portugal.

The five years older Silva—who won the U23 edition of the Volta a Portugal in 2012—announced his retirement on January 28, 2024, after being informed by the Portuguese anti-doping authority about irregular findings in his blood passport.

Harsh penalties
Fernandes’ suspension started on November 28, 2025. It is a sanction of no less than six years, but it should be noted that he has already served part of his suspension. The rider had been provisionally suspended since November 7, 2024.

Silva’s sanction also takes into account his previous suspension: his ban runs until February 4, 2028.

Bigger problem

The suspensions of Fernandes and Silva are not isolated cases; these incidents add to a growing list of doping scandals in Portuguese cycling. In December, António Carvalho Ferreira was also handed a four-year suspension after violating anti-doping rules due to unexplained anomalies in his biological passport.

In October 2025, the UCI announced that APHotels & Resorts/Tavira/SC Farense would be suspended for three weeks after the team committed two anti-doping violations within twelve months, involving Venceslau Fernandes and Delio Fernandez Cruz.

APHotels & Resorts/Tavira/SC Farense was the second Portuguese team in recent years to be suspended by the UCI due to doping violations, after W52-FC Porto in 2022.