Introducing Miguel Ángel López

Miguel Ángel López is a Colombian cyclist who has achieved great triumphs throughout his professional career: overall victories in important races such as the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of Switzerland and stages in the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France.

López was born on February 4, 1994 in Pesca, Colombia, and did not start cycling until he was a youngster. His development, however, was meteoric, as without having competed in Europe he won the Tour del Porvenir outright at the age of 20, which made the Astana team set its sights on him and signed him in 2015.

Thus, in his first year as a professional, in 2015, he managed to finish eighth in the Colombian Nationals, 15th in the Tour of Turkey, seventh in the Tour de Suisse and fourth in the Vuelta a Burgos achieving his first victory as a professional in Pineda de la Sierra.

In 2016 he continued his meteoric progression finishing fourth in the Tour de San Luis and winning a stage, finishing third in the Tour de Langkawi and winning another stage. After not shining too much in the Volta a Catalunya and Itzulia Basque Country, he confirmed himself as one of the world's great climbers by winning the overall of the Tour de Suisse ahead of Ion Izagirre and Warren Barguil. He had to withdraw from the Vuelta a España, but finished the season in style by winning the world's oldest classic, the Milano-Torino.

In 2017 he started the season somewhat late due to physical problems and had to retire in the Tour de Suisse before finishing second and winning a stage in the Tour of Austria. He won the queen stage of the Vuelta a Burgos and finished fourth overall and confirmed himself as one of the great climbers of the moment by winning 2 stages and finishing eighth in the Vuelta a España.

In 2018 he confirmed himself in the elite of world cycling. He started with stage and second place in the Tour of Oman and with two third places overall in the Abu Dhabi Tour and the Tour of the Alps. He finished third and was the best young rider in the Giro d'Italia, won a stage in Burgos and finished second overall and ended his great year with another podium finish in another big one, the Vuelta a España.

He started 2019 in style by winning the overall of the Tour de Colombia and the Volta a Catalunya (winning the queen stage in La Molina). He was unable to repeat his success in the Giro d'Italia and had to settle for seventh place. In the Vuelta a España he finished fifth without winning a stage. Slump in the two majors after the podiums of 2018.

In 2020 he won a stage of the Volta ao Algarve and finished fifth in Dauphiné before tackling the Tour de France. Brutal performance winning a great stage at the Col de la Loze and finishing sixth overall.

In 2021 he signed for Movistar Team and started in style winning stage and overall in the Vuelta a Andalucía, finishing sixth in Dauphiné and winning the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge. In the Tour de France he did not show a great level and ended up retiring in stage 19. In the Vuelta a España he won stage 18, but abandoned on stage 20 when he was fighting for the podium of the race and interpreted that the Spanish team was benefiting his teammate Enric Mas. That caused him not to race with them again and he returned to Astana.

In 2022 he started with a third place in the Vuelta a Andalucía and followed that up with a stage win in the Tour of the Alps. He abandoned in the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia reportedly with a hip injury and finished third in the Vuelta a Burgos. In the Vuelta a España he finished fourth overall. However, the whole year was marked by other issues. Astana was informed that Lopez could be involved in a matter of trafficking of doping substances that ended with the rider's dismissal after a brief suspension in July. In 2023, despite not being formally accused of anything, he had to search for contract elsewhere. He's taken up a spot in the Colombian continental Team Mede