Spanish rider was scheduled to give testimony on Friday via video link.

Team Katusha has temporarily suspended Angel Vicioso following his failure to appear in front of the judge presiding over the trial of Eufemiano Fuentes in the Operacion Puerto case to testify.

"As of now Vicioso is suspended from all competitions," a Katusha spokesman told Reuters.

In 2006 Vicioso was a member of the Liberty Seguros team which was allegedly part of Fuentes’s blood doping ploy. He is now set to give testimony via video link on Friday.

Last week Katusha won its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to regain its WorldTour status after the UCI refused to grant the license on ethical grounds. Accordingly, the team is keen to ensure that Vicioso follows through on his legal responsibility with this interim suspension as his absence is feared to discredit the team.