Duenas Nevado has been suspended by his team

Welsh rider Geraint Thomas says his Barloword team-mate Moises Duenas Nevado should go to prison after the Spanish rider failed a drug test.

Duenas Nevado tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO during the Tour de France on 8 July.

"I never expected him to do this and because of his selfish act our sponsor has now pulled out," said Thomas.

"The last I heard he was facing a five-year prison sentence in France, and I hope he gets it."

World track cycling champion Thomas is not at this year's Tour de France as the Welshman prepares with his Team GB team-mates for next month's Beijing Olympics.

The 22-year-old from Cardiff insists the time had come for drug cheats to feel the full weight of the law.

"It's about time people realised it can't happen anymore," he added.

Geraint Thomas Blog I just find it unbelievable to think that people still take such stupid risks Geraint Thomas

"I guess you will always get people who will try to cheat the system, not just in sport but in everyday life.

"Saying that, if someone is fraudulent in a business, wouldn't they be facing a prison term?

"I don't see how riders taking drugs to win races and lying to their teams is any different. Bang them up and throw away the key.

Duenas Nevado was immediately suspended by Barloword and withdrawn from the 11th stage of the Tour following an apparent raid by French police at his team's base in Tarbes.

Barloworld, a massive multinational company associated with major brands such as Caterpillar and Avis, decided to end its sponsorship in the wake of the scandal.