Spanish agency AEPSAD says it has opened an investigation following allegations about the San Silvestre Crevillentina race, including that a Spanish athlete jumped fences to avoid testing

Several athletes are reported to have evaded doping controls at the San Silvestre Crevillentina 10km road race in Alicante, south-east Spain, on New Year’s Eve.

According to Spanish sports newspaper Diario AS, several witnesses and runners are said to have claimed that some athletes tried to avoid going through the required anti-doping processes, with one runner having written on the event’s Facebook page: “When I finished I was surprised to see him (a Spanish athlete) jump the fences”.

The Spanish agency for health protection in sport, La Agencia Espa ola de Protecci n de la Salud en el Deporte (AEPSAD), said that an investigation had been opened following the claims.

“AEPSAD opened its investigation following the allegations in the ‘San Silvestre Crevillentina’ held yesterday (1),” read a translated tweet from the @AEPSAD account.

In its report, La Voz de Galicia stated that 40 minutes before the race started it had been announced that top finishers would be required to go through doping controls for a race that offers 600 euros to the winner, 400 euros for the runner-up and 300 euros for the third-place athlete in both the men’s and women’s races, with prizes down to eighth place, plus money for leading Spanish athletes, masters and clubs.

The news comes a year after a New Year’s Eve race in Salamanca saw some athletes withdraw, reportedly after a joke that there was to be doping controls at the race.

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