Career
On 26 June 2009 he tested positive on Recombinant Erythropoietin (EPO), for which he was suspended by the UCI on 31 July 2009. Astarloza denied using EPO, saying that it was "sporting suicide" to use illegal performance-enhancing drugs. On 15 May 2010, he was formally handed a two-year ban by the Spanish Cycling Federation.
Astarloza continually claimed his innocence, and Euskaltel-Euskadi stated that they would rehire him once the ban ended.
He indeed rejoined the Basque team in August 2011, at the Vuelta a Burgos. Astarloza was selected to ride the 2012 Tour de France, but crashed on a big pile-up in stage 6 with 25 km (16 mi) remaining with a fractured right elbow and did not finish the stage.
On 1 October 2013 Astarloza announced that he would retire from professional cycling after the 2013 Tour of Beijing. Grand Tours overall classification results timeline.