French Paralympic Champion suspended following positive EPO test

The International Testing Agency, (ITA), is the independent anti-doping programme who worked for the UCI, They confirmed in a test taken on September 5, EPO was found.

In an official statement they said, "A sample collected during an in-competition testing mission conducted on 5 September 2026 during the 2026 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Huntsville, Alabama, USA, from French rider Thomas Peyroton-Dartet has returned an AAF¹ for EPO."

The test was taken just two days before the 41-year-old won gold in the C3 road race. The rider is also a police officer.

The ITA allows athletes to request analysis of a second or 'B-sample', taken on the same day as the first sample.

The ITA explained the process in their statement. "If the B-sample analysis is requested and confirms the result of the A-sample, the case will be considered as a confirmed anti-doping rule violation. If the B-sample analysis is not requested, the case will also go ahead as a confirmed anti-doping rule violation. The rider will have the opportunity to present his explanations for the result."

"Further, in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code and UCI Regulations, a mandatory provisional suspension has been imposed on the rider. The rider has the right to challenge the provisional suspension and ask for its lifting."

Peyroton-Dartet won the C3 road race at the 2022 and 2023 UEC Para-Cycling European Championships. The Frenchman, who has been competing in para-cycling since 2021, after hitting a car on a training ride, also secured road race silver at the 2025 Worlds.

He is also the defending Paralympic C3 time trial champion, a race he won at his home games in Paris. At that event, he also took the silver in the C1-3 road race.

EPO is a hormone that stimulates red blood cell production. It occurs naturally in the human body.

However, it is also injected synthetically, to stimulate abnormal, and excessive, red-blood cell production.

EPO increases oxygen-carrying capacity, because of an increase in haemoglobin, which in turn enhances endurance.

Image credit: Instagram Thomas Peyroton-Dartet