UCI suspends Miguel Ángel López after potential anti-doping violation at 2022 Giro d'Italia

Miguel Ángel López was associated to a potential doping ring last year, he was not suspended however he lost his place in the World Tour because of this. This afternoon the UCI has suspended the Colombian rider as he has potentially broken anti-doping rules.

"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) during the investigation into Dr Marcos Maynar, the UCI has today notified Miguel Ángel López of a potential anti-doping rule violation (ADRV)," the UCI said in a press release.

"After review of the information and material provided by the ITA on 26 June and 7 July 2023, the Colombian rider has been notified of a potential ADRV for use and possession of a prohibited substance in the weeks prior to the Giro d’Italia 2022. The UCI has decided to provisionally suspend the rider pending the final decison."

Back in December it had emerged in a striking report from Spanish newspaper ABC, it is said that the court of Cáceres - the city where Dr. Marcos Maynar, the leader of a doping ring, worked as a doctor and university teacher - holds documents that suggest that it is possible that López may have received a dose of the substance menotropin before the Grande Partenza in Budapest, and that his sudden abandon may have happened due to a reaction to it.

López was fired from Astana Qazaqstan Team because of this web he found himself entangled in, and was signed by Team Medellín-EPM earlier this year, having won the Vuelta a San Juan ahead of World Tour competition, and following that up with many victories in the south and central American circuit which see him as the rider who has won the most UCI races so far this year.