The long-running doping case against Colombian rider Miguel Ángel López has been “definitively closed”, after the Swiss Federal Tribunal dismissed the rider’s second appeal in the case, which concerns allegations dating back to the 2022 Giro d’Italia.
Then riding for Astana Qazaqstan, Ángel López was sanctioned for the “use and possession of a prohibited substance”, which in this case was menotropin, a substance that can stimulate testosterone production.
Ángel López was initially banned for four years by the UCI’s Anti-Doping Tribunal. The rider appealed this decision to CAS – the Court of Arbitration for Sport – which upheld the initial ban, and then took the case to the Federal Tribunal.
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Now 32, the former winner of stages in the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France, argued that the UCI’s use of evidence from a separate investigation violated his human rights. The ban originally came about after CELAD’s Operaćion Ilex – an investigation into Spanish doctor Marcos Maynar, who was arrested in 2022 on drug trafficking allegations – which yielded evidence against Ángel López.
However, the Federal Tribunal did not agree, and once again the original four-year ban was upheld. Given he was originally dealt a ban in 2024 that was backdated to July 2023, the rider has already served a large amount of it – he will be free to ride again on 24 July next year.
As well as the ban, Ángel López was hit with a fine equal to 70% of his gross income for 2022, and the disqualification of all results between 3 May 2022 and 25 July 2023.
Writing on the X social media platform at the time of the initial sanction, Ángel López said: “In my understanding, the offence does not exist and the sanction is unjustified. I will appeal immediately before the UCI and defend my innocence as I have always done. I have faith that I will return to the world of professional cycling.”
As well as his Grand Tour wins, Ángel López won the Tour de Suisse, Volta Catalunya and more. In theory, he will be able to return to the pro peloton next year, aged 33 and continue adding to his palmarès.
