2023-07-25 17:14:49
Colombian cyclist Miguel Angel Lopez is provisionally suspended. This for a “potential violation of anti-doping rules” announced the UCI in a press release.
“The Colombian rider has been notified of a potential violation of anti-doping rules for use and possession of a prohibited substance in the weeks preceding the Giro d’Italia 2022” specifies the UCI, which has therefore decided to “provisionally suspend the rider pending the final decision”.
Miguel Angel Lopez, 29, 3rd in the Giro and the Vuelta in 2018, was due to participate in the world cycling championships in Glasgow (August 3-13) with the Colombian national team, and was lined up for the road race and the time trial.
The UCI explains that it took this decision following an investigation carried out by the International Testing Agency (ITA) on the doctor Marcos Maynar, thanks in particular to evidence “obtained from the Spanish police authorities (Guardia Civil) and from the Spanish National Anti-Doping Organization (CELAD)”.
In December 2022, Angel Lopez was fired by his Astana Qazaqstan team, who explained that they had “discovered new elements showing the probable link” between doctor Marcos Maynar and the Colombian climber.
The Colombian, winner of the Tour of Switzerland in 2016 and the Tour of Catalonia in 2019, had deplored an “abusive and unjustified break”, denying “any allegation that might sully his name and his honor as a professional runner”.
He had already been provisionally suspended for a week by his team following being arrested at Madrid airport on July 22, 2022.
According to the Ciclo 21 site, this arrest took place as part of an investigation targeting the doctor Marcos Maynar for drug trafficking and money laundering.
He was then reinstated in the team due to “the absence of elements found by the Spanish authorities or the International Cycling Union (UCI)” had indicated Astana.
Since the start of 2023, Miguel Angel Lopez has been playing for the third division Team Medellin-EPM, with which he won the Tour de San Juan in Argentina and the Tour de Colombia, in which he won nine of the ten stages.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
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