Mountain bike specialist Matthias Flüchiger (Thames Maxon) tested positive for the banned anabolic substance zeranol at the Swiss Cross Country Championships in Leysin on June 5, where he won the national title.

According to a press release from the Swiss Cycling Federation, Olympic silver medalist Flue has been provisionally suspended.

Flückiger, 33, has not commented on the positive test, and a B sample is pending.

"On Thursday afternoon, Swiss Cycling was informed by Swiss Sport Integrity that mountain bike specialist Matthias Flückiger has tested positive for the banned anabolic substance gelanol.

"The test was conducted on June 5 at the Swiss Cross Country Championships in Leysin, where Flückiger was competing with a professional team.

"This is a possible violation of the anti-doping code. Flückiger was provisionally suspended under the Swiss Olympic doping code.

Gelanol is used in North America to promote the growth of livestock and is classified as an "other anabolic agent" on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) prohibited list.

Swiss Cycling announced that Flückiger's positive test was reported on Thursday, one day before the elite men's cross-country mountain bike competition at the European Championships, which was won by Tom Pidcock.

In 2021, Flückiger won the silver medal in cross-country mountain biking at the Tokyo Olympics, behind gold medalist Pidcock. He also finished second to Nino Schluter in the world championships, earning him first place in the UCI cross-country ranking and the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup title.

This season, Flückiger won the national championships and the World Cup Leogang in June; he also placed third in the Lenzerheide World Cup in July.

His positive test came two weeks before the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, France, August 24-28.

Flückiger's team, Thomas Maxon Swiss Mountain Bike Racing, reiterated that it had placed him on provisional suspension since receiving the information that his A-sample had tested positive, and that the team has a zero-tolerance policy.

"Dorling has been suspended since receiving information that the A sample was positive.

"In the case of doping, zero tolerance is applied by Team Thömus maxon Swiss Mountain Bike Racing. team Thömus maxon wants a clean and fair sport. We firmly condemn doping. Together with Swiss Olympics, Swiss Cycling, Swiss Sport Integrity and other relevant partners, we will take the necessary measures to clarify and further evaluate the situation," the team said in a statement on Thursday.

"A decision on further cooperation with Matthias Flückiger will be made when the B sample becomes available.