Three more Portuguese teams suffer raid ahead of Volta a Portugal start - Update: Further riders taken out of competition

Doping investigations are being consistently active in Portugal in recent months, now with three other teams said to have been searched, with detentions made.

The news come with just two days to the start of the Volta a Portugal, the country's most important race of the year, and very shortly after W52-FC Porto - the team that has won the race every year since 2013 - had it's UCI license removed due to the ongoing investigations over the same topic.

'Record' and other news outlets report that three teams: Rádio Popular - Paredes - Boavista; Efapel Cycling and Glassdrive Q8 Anicolor have been the target of searches today over suspicions of usage of prohibited substances. Rádio Popular rider Daniel Freitas has been suspended whilst Efapel's Francisco Campos has been fired from Efapel after admitting to not following with the team's internal rules. It is reported than eight more riders have been suspended as a result of a new phase of the investigation - which was conducted by the police, not in collaboration with the Portuguese Cycling Federation.

The Volta a Portugal is set to start this Thursday in Lisbon, Portugal's capital, and see the riders go through 11 stages that will see high mountain stages, aswell as many hilly days and the traditional summer soaring heat.