On Friday the International Testing Agency announced Colombian cyclist Martha Bayona Pineda received an 18-month ban after a UCI Anti-Doping Tribunal found her guilty of committing three whereabouts failures.

A ‘whereabouts failure’ anti-doping rule violation occurs when an athlete (typically part of a Registered Testing Pool requiring them to be locatable for no-notice, out-of-competition drug testing) misses tests and/or fails to make required location filings three times in a 12 month period.

The UCI did not provide any details associated of Pineda’s whereabouts failures.

The 30 year-old 5 foot tall powerhouse track sprinter won the silver medal in the Keirin race at the 2023 UCI World Championships, missing out on a world title by the slimmest of margins – 0.010 seconds.

Although not common, anti-doping whereabouts failures are occuring more frequently. UCI World U23 Cross-Country Champion Vlad Dascalu received an 17-month ban in 2025 and USA Cycling Amateur Junior Criterium National Champion Christian DesChamps was sanctioned 14 months in 2024.

Bayona is prohibited from participating in sport in any capacity from 23 April 2025 until 22 October 2026.

Photo Credit: SWpix/Alex Whitehead

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