Colombian rider Miguel Angel Lopez provisionally suspended amid doping probe
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Miguel Angel Lopez of Colombia competing in the Tour de France in 2020 for Astana.
PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS – Colombian rider Miguel Angel Lopez has been provisionally suspended amid a doping probe, the sport’s UCI governing body announced on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old is being investigated “for use and possession of a prohibited substance in the weeks preceding the 2022 Giro d’Italia”, the UCI said of its decision to “provisionally suspend the rider pending the final decision”.
“Based on an investigation conducted by the International Testing Agency (ITA), including evidence obtained from the Spanish law enforcement authorities (Guardia Civil) and the Spanish Anti-Doping Organisation (CELAD)... the UCI has today notified Miguel Angel Lopez of a potential anti-doping rule violation (ADRV),” it said.
“Investigations into potential ADRVs are conducted independently by the ITA and, once completed, their outcome is referred to the UCI for results management purposes.
“No further comment will be made at this stage of the proceedings.”
Lopez, third in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta in 2018, had been due to take part in the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow from Aug 3-13 and would now most likely miss the competition.
Last December, he was fired by the Astana team, who claim he has links to a Spanish doctor at the heart of a doping investigation.
He had already been provisionally suspended for a week by his team after being arrested at Madrid airport the previous July.
The Colombian – winner of the Tour of Switzerland in 2016 and the Tour of Catalonia in 2019 – denies any connection to doping.
He had previously said that he rejected “any allegation that could damage his name and honour as professional rider, and reminds that he has never tested positive for any drugs or doping”.
Following his departure from Astana and since the start of 2023, Lopez has been competing for third division Team Medellin-EPM, winning the Tour de San Juan in Argentina and Tour de Colombia, where he won nine of the ten stages.
His team said they respected the UCI’s decision, withdrawing Lopez from the Tour of Panama.
Their statement went on to point out the rider “had undergone anti-doping controls” since he joined them and each one had come back negative. AFP, REUTERS
