Teenage Cyclist Banned for 3 Years in Methamphetamine Doping Shock

Azerbaijani racer Artyom Proskuryakov has been banned for three years by the UCI in one of the most shocking doping cases of recent years.

Now 19 years old, Proskuryakov tested positive for “Methamphetamine and its metabolites” during intelligence-led testing while he was in Rwanda last September for the UCI junior road world championships.

Proskuryakov was provisionally suspended by the UCI in November after he requested an analysis of his B-Sample. That second analysis has now also returned a positive.

Methamphetamine is banned in competition and listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.

Proskuryakov is now sidelined until 17 November 2028, by which time he will be 21.

The suspension is backdated to 18 November 2025.

Proskuryakov has not raced in that period of ineligibility. He finished 41st in the world championship time trial and did not finish the road race in Rwanda last September.

The news released this week closes a chapter on one of the most stunning cases to have arisen in a recent UCI crackdown on biological passport anomalies and other doping offenses.

Proskuryakov was only 18 years old when his positive samples were collected.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency describes methamphetamine as a “highly addictive drug with potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant properties.

“Those who smoke or inject it report a brief, intense sensation, or rush. Oral ingestion or snorting produces a long-lasting high instead of a rush, which reportedly can continue for as long as half a day. Both the rush and the high are believed to result from the release of very high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine into areas of the brain that regulate feelings of pleasure.”

Methamphetamine can be used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The UCI stated it will not comment any further on the case.