An amateur athlete – who is also the father of a current WorldTour pro – was just sanctioned for working with banned former US Postal Service trainer Jose Martí.
Cor Vos
The spectre of one of pro cycling’s worst doping scandals reappeared recently when an amateur athlete received an 18-month doping suspension last autumn after Spanish anti-doping officials determined he was working with former US Postal Service (USPS) coach José Martí Martí – known as Pepe Martí. Martí is currently prohibited from working with athletes in any sport governed by World Anti-Doping Agency rules due to his central role in the USPS doping ring.
But the case has two twists: First, the Spanish anti-doping agency that pursued it – the Comision Española para la Lucha Antidopaje en el Deporte, or CELAD – does not yet appear to have levied any sanction against Martí, who was also reportedly under surveillance by Spain’s Guardia Civil police.
Martí allegedly told authorities that he is a university professor working on a performance study with both amateur and professional cyclists as subjects, despite the fact that he’s under WADA sanction until June 2027. Violating the terms of an anti-doping ban constitutes a second offense, traditionally punishable with a lifetime ban. But no sanction for Martí appears in CELAD’s public database, raising the question of whether there is a larger, ongoing case.
Second, the sanctioned amateur athlete is Jaume Soler Serrano, the father of UAE Team Emirates-XRG pro rider Marc Soler. It’s unclear if CELAD has sanctioned any other athletes in connection with Martí or is working on a larger case. CELAD did not respond to Escape Collective’s request for comment, and Jaume Soler reserves the right to appeal his sanction.
As an amateur athlete, Jaume Soler’s case is not public, but Escape Collective exclusively obtained CELAD’s official sanction notice, which identifies the firefighter and amateur triathlete based in the coastal town of Vilanova i la Geltrú in Catalonia, Spain as the father of Marc Soler. According to the CELAD sanction document, Jaume Soler and Martí were followed and intercepted by the country’s Guardia Civil in August 2023.
This post is for paying subscribers only
Subscribe now
Already have an account? Sign in
Did we do a good job with this story?
👍Yep
👎Nope