Colombian doctor Fredy Alexander Gonzales Torres has received a six-month suspended prison sentence and a €15,000 fine for possession and administration of doping substances during the 2020 Tour de France.
Gonzales Torres was not present in the Marseille court for the verdict, remaining in Colombia for the month-long trial. His lawyer has already confirmed he will appeal the sentence.
The Colombian acted as doctor for Nairo Quintana and his brother Dayer during the 2020 Tour France, as well as being a stand-in for the Arkéa-Samsic squad in the race after their usual doctor had fallen ill with COVID-19.
Gonzales Torres was accused of possessing an intravenous drip during that year's Tour, discovered by police when they searched his room at one of the hotels used by the team on the COVID-delayed race that year.
Neither of the Quintana brothers tested positive during the race and they both vigorously insisted to police that they were innocent of any wrongdoing. In a statement in 2020, after he was questioned by legal authorities, Quintana claimed only legal vitamins were seized and that he "had nothing to hide"
"I would like to confirm that no doping substances were ever found," Quintana stated. "It must be stressed that I have not been the subject of any accusation by the authorities."
During the trial, according to AFP, Gonzales Torres lawyer Mohamed El Yousfi said that 'no doping product' had 'ever been seized' by police during their three-investigation and called for an acquittal.
According to AFP, the court described the doctor as a 'guru-like guide' who used magnets, nocturnal body rubs with lemon, garlic and coffee as well as the use of numerical mantras to enable riders to get better mental rest.
Two years later, Nairo Quintana tested positive for tramadol during the 2022 Tour de France. He was stripped of his results as a result of an in-competition ban, although at the time tramadol was still not fully prohibited by the UCI.
Having abruptly pulled out of the Vuelta a España when news of the tramadol positive broke, Quintana then parted ways with Arkéa at the end of that season. The former Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España winner subsequently spent a year without racing before rejoining the professional peloton for his previous team, Movistar at the start of 2024.
The 35-year-old is set to ride the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España in 2025, but not the Tour de France, where he is a three-time podium finisher and multiple-stage winner. Dayer Quintana, 32, retired at the end of 2023 after a year of racing for a small Colombian squad.
Gonzales Torres was also ordered by the Marseille court to pay €60,000 to Arkéa-Samsic for reputational damages.
