Marcos Maynar, on Miguel Ángel López: "He will race again, the Beldas have declared and he did not receive menotropin in Hungary during the Giro"

Second installment of Javier Ramirez's interview with Marcos Maynar in the podcast El Contraaálisis in which the doctor accused of of an alleged crime against public health and administration of doping substances in the framework of Operation Ilex, talks about the Colombian cyclist Miguel Angel Lopez, who is currently suspended by the UCI for doping.

The newspaper ABC published on December 12, 2022 that Marcos Maynar had given menotropin to Miguel Angel Lopez, then still at Astana, and that this menotropin had caused an inflammation in his leg and as a result of this ailment the Colombian ended up withdrawing from the Giro d'Italia in Hungary.

Marcos Maynar denied in @elcontraanalisis having given menotropin to Miguel Angel Lopez stating that the Colombian made it clear to him that he wanted nothing to do with doping: "He would have sent me to hell". In this issue, he also explains that according to what Vicente Belda and his son declared before the judge of the Ilex Operation, menotropin would not have reached Hungary during the Giro d'Italia, so, according to him, there would be no evidence against the current Team Medellin - EPM cyclist;

In his defense of Lopez he implies that the Colombian was not doped when in the Tour de France "they took him on the hook" (he does not name them, but we imagine he is talking about riders like Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogacar): "For the others I do not put my hand in the fire, but for Miguel Angel Lopez I put my hand because I do know if he doped. I know how strong he is. And for him to be taken with the hook like others in the way these gentlemen have taken him in the Tour de France to the others, I wouldn't worry about nonsense like this. Let them worry and tell the UCI what they are doing to investigate what these gentlemen are doing. They are making fools of themselves.

"Miguel Ángel López had his nutritionist in his team, both in Banesto (referring to Movistar Team) and in Astana, he had his nutritionist and his doctor. What happened is that he called me on one occasion and said 'hey, look, they sent me this to deflate me' and it turned out that what they had sent him was a diuretic, which was also on the list and I told him not to do it."

"None of the riders who appear in the case have any doping problem, the only one who is attributed is Lopez because of the menotropin, but it was not for him and he never got it, he never got the menotropin."

"Since we are with the lies that the civil guard launches (remember that it is the civil guard that informs the UCI that Lopez had had in his possession menotropin and therefore the Colombian is provisionally sanctioned for doping), because the civil guard also say what they want and they want him to appear as the bad guy in the movie".

"This gentleman arrived with discomfort to the Giro d'Italia because he is a person who trains very hard and as the days went by he got worse and worse, they did an ultrasound and what he had was a muscle overload.

What they speak of a rhabdomyolysis, they mix things up (by the civil guard). The rhabdomyolysis is a pathology derived from the fact that the muscular fibers are broken and the components of the muscular fibers come out from the inside to the outside. The CPK is an intracellular enzyme, it appears in large quantities, that is why the main cause of a rhabdomyolysis in an athlete is a fall or a blow, they mix things up to give it a significance.

Lopez was already bad at the start and as he is very rough instead of getting off, which is what he should have done, he tried to see if he could get better, which is what any cyclist does".

"The last year with Astana was Vincenzo Nibali's last year and Astana had hired his doctor. In a race Miguel Angel Lopez told me, in a finish that he was very good at and it went well, he told me that the doctor had given him some pills and so on and had sent him nitroglycerin. It is not doping, because it is not on the lists, but why do you want to give him a coronary dilator. I told him not to take it again, to tell his doctor not to give it to him. I give you this example because many things are used to give the rider maximum performance."

Vicente Belda and his son Vicente Belda García testified a few weeks ago and according to Maynar their words would exonerate Miguel Ángel López of having committed any type of crime:

"The Beldas have testified and it seems that the issue is very clear and it seems that everything is very clear and Mr. Lopez did not receive absolutely nothing, neither in Hungary nor anywhere else. That has been said to the judge. It is clear that he has not committed any crime against doping".

"He will be back, in fact the UCI has withheld more than one million euros from Astana, precisely to pay the damages caused to Lopez and the unfair dismissal, because he has been dismissed without hard evidence. Apart from that, he is causing moral damage that I hope Lopez will also denounce to the UCI."

"With Lopez I can guarantee that you can fight without doping against the top level, and I'm not saying that the top level are up to their eyebrows, but I know that this kid who is among the best is absolutely clean and that the only thing he ate from time to time was a lamb burger that raised his triglycerides, the only treats he indulged in."

Recall that the Guardia Civil approached Miguel Angel Lopez at the Madrid Barajas airport (published last July 21 by Ciclo 21) to gather information on Operation Ilex and its link to Marcos Maynar:

"I wasn't carrying anything, it was an effect of the UCO (central organ of the Judicial Police service of the Civil Guard), they have to grab on to anything and put them in the front line without realizing that we have family, I have 2 daughters and it seems that I am a mafioso when I am not."

Article written by Juan Larra.