Manuel Beltrán
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Beltrán Martinez |
| Nickname | Triki, The Cookie Monster |
| Born | 28 May 1971 Jaén, Spain |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb; 9 st 6 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climbing specialist |
| Professional teams | |
| 1994–1996 | Mapei–CLAS |
| 1997–1999 | Banesto |
| 2000–2001 | Mapei–Quick-Step |
| 2002–2003 | Team Coast |
| 2003–2006 | U.S. Postal Service |
| 2007–2008 | Liquigas |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Manuel Beltrán Martinez (born 28 May 1971) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Spain. His finishes in the Tour de France are somewhat misleading as he was a lieutenant for his team leader. He was the team leader for numerous Vuelta a España rides and performed well.
Beltrán tested positive for EPO after the first stage of the 2008 Tour de France, according to L'Équipe 11 July 2008. The same date as the news broke, a spokesman for his team Liquigas said he would be suspended from the team and thrown out of that year's tour. It was later confirmed that his B-sample also tested positive.
Beltrán was suspended for two years. In 2010, he had to pay his former team 100.000 euros because of his positive doping test in the Tour de France.
His name was also on the list of doping tests published by the French Senate on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the 1998 Tour de France and found positive for EPO when retested in 2004.