Andre Cardoso has been suspended by Trek-Segafredo after it was revealed that he has failed a drugs test just four days before the Tour de France gets under way.

Cardoso had been named in a nine-man team for the Tour in a Trek-Segafredo line-up which will be led by Alberto Contador.

The Portuguese rider will not compete in the most prestigious of  the Grand Tours, though, after the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) confirmed the 32-year-old tested positive for prohibited substance Erythropoietin — commonly known as EPO.

Trek-Segafredo reacted by suspending Cardoso, who tested positive in an out-of-competition sample taken on June 18.

A UCI statement said: "Portuguese rider André Cardoso was notified of an Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) of Erythropoietin in a sample collected in the scope of an out-of-competition control on 18 June 2017.

"The control was planned and carried out by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), the independent body mandated by the UCI, in charge of defining and implementing the anti-doping strategy in cycling.

"The rider has the right to request and attend the analysis of the B sample. In accordance with UCI Anti-Doping Rules, the rider has been provisionally suspended until the adjudication of the affair."

Haimar Zubeldia will take Cardoso's place in Trek-Segafredo's Tour de France squad.