Moscow, Apr 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti): The Russian cycling team RusVelo has torn up its contract with rider Valery Kaykov after the 2012 European silver medallist tested positive for a banned substance, it said Thursday.

The 24-year-old is one of the lead riders for the team, which competes in the second-tier Pro Continental division and was founded in late 2011 to prepare Russian track cyclists for major competitions.

"The Rusvelo management regrets to announce that the 'A' doping probe of team rider Valery Kaykov has returned a positive result for the presence of a banned substance," RusVelo said in a statement.

"Kaykov was informed immediately about the termination of his contract with RusVelo, and the International Cycling Union (UCI) has also been informed."

The date and location of the test was not disclosed by the team, which said only: "The sample was taken in an out-of-competition period."

"The main ideology of the team is zero tolerance toward doping. We support clean cycling and intend to continue doing this."

Kaykov won a silver with Artur Ershov in the madison event at last year's European track championships in Lithuania.

He is the latest in a long series of Russian athletes to be accused of doping in recent months.