Taken by the patrol. The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced on Tuesday the provisional suspension of the rider Miguel Angel Lopez, stage winner on the Tour de France in 2020. The Colombian “has been notified of a potential violation of the anti-doping rules for use and possession of a prohibited substance in the weeks preceding the Giro 2022” specifies the body.
Third in the Giro and the Vuelta in 2018, Lopez was to participate in the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow (August 3-13) with the Colombian national team, which had selected him for the road race and the time trial. The coach will have to change his plans since the climber is temporarily suspended, “pending the final decision”.
The UCI explains that it took this decision after an investigation carried out by the International Testing Agency (ITA) on the doctor Marcos Maynar. The latter obtained evidence “from the Spanish police authorities (Guardia Civil) and the Spanish National Anti-Doping Organization (CELAD)”. In December 2022, Lopez was fired by his team, Astana Qazaqstan, 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 could smear his name and his honor as a professional runner”. Since the start of the year, 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.