Colombian climber Miguel Angel López has insisted that he’s not responsible of utilizing banned substances and that he’ll enchantment to the Court docket of Arbitration of Sport towards his four-year suspension from racing, the case for which he stated relies on an misguided interpretation of “manipulated telephone name transcripts.”
Based on a UCI assertion on Wednesday, López was given a four-year ban, efficient from the date of his provisional suspension on July 25 2023, for “use and possession of a prohibited substance (Menotropin)” – a substance usually used within the remedy of fertility disturbances – “concomitantly with the 2022 Giro d’Italia.”
A former Vuelta a España and Tour de France stage winner and podium finisher in each the Giro and Vuelta, López has at all times insisted he’s harmless of any wrongdoing and he reacted forcefully to the information of the four-year ban.
Writing on Instagram, López claimed that the choice didn’t bear in mind current selections taken by the Spanish authorized authorities and by CAS. He additionally alleged, with out offering direct proof, that the ban was primarily based on the [incorrect] “interpretation of manipulated and biased telephone name transcripts.”
“The offence doesn’t exist, and the ban is unjustified,” López wrote. “I’ll enchantment instantly and I’ll defend my innocence, I hope to have the ability to return to the world of aggressive biking.”
The 30-year-old former Astana racer additionally thanked folks for his or her ongoing assist throughout the investigation.
The UCI’s announcement of López ban said that “the disciplinary continuing was initiated following an investigation carried out by the Worldwide Testing Company (ITA) primarily based on proof obtained from the Spanish Guardia Civil and the Spanish Anti-Doping Organisation (CELAD) within the so-called Operation ‘Ilex’. The UCI welcomes this helpful collaboration.”
The UCI didn’t specify what proof had been obtained from Ilex, nor but the way it affected their investigation.
Nevertheless, it added that what it calls the “operational actions of its anti-doping programme” have been run by the Worldwide Testing Company (ITA) in January 2021, and identified that the ITA’s settlement with the UCI “ensures that the ITA operates in an unbiased method.”
Within the unique assertion concerning the ban the UCI added it will not remark additional on the suspension. In the meantime, López has as much as a month to lodge his enchantment with CAS.
