Following the July and August suspensions of 10 riders from the Portuguese Continental squad W52-FC Porto, the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority (ADOP) has confirmed bans of three to seven years for seven of the squad’s riders.
In an update to the ADOP sanctions list on Tuesday, the authority stated that three former winners of the Volta a Portugal were among those suspended from cycling as a result of the long-running Operação Prova Limpa (clean race) investigation.
2019 winner João Rodrigues, who also won the Volta ao Algarve ahead of Ethan Hayter and Kasper Asgreen in 2021, has received the longest ban – three years handed down by ADOP for the ‘possession of prohibited methods’, followed by four from the UCI for biological passport irregularities. He will lose his results from 2018 and 2021.
2011 winner Ricardo Mestre received a three-year ban for possession of the human growth hormone analog Somatropine, while Rui Vinhas, a surprise Volta a Portugal winner in 2016, also took a three-year ban for possession of the corticosteroid Betamethasone.
Four other members of the team also received three-year bans. Daniel Mestre was found in possession of Betamethasone, and Ricardo Vilela and Samuel Caldeira were both found in possession of multiple substances, including Somatropine, insulin, human growth hormone, and TB500.
Finally, José Neves, who celebrated a race win with a ‘shush’ gesture back in July after he was one of the few W52 riders to avoid suspension, was found in possession of human growth hormone. All seven riders received a one-year reduction to their bans after admitting to anti-doping violations and accept their suspensions, which run from April 2022.
ADOP is continuing its investigations, with four staff members and three riders – Joni Brandão, Jorge Magalhães, and former Katusha rider José Gonçalves – still implicated along with team directors Nuno Ribeiro and José Rodrigues and two mechanics.
W52-FC Porto, the most successful team in the country, having dominated the Volta a Portugal with eight wins in the past decade, now face an ignominious ending with only two riders – Guilherme Mota, and three-time Volta champion Amaro Antunes – not implicated in the Prova Limpa probe.
The team had been led by ex-racer and former Volta winner Ribeiro, himself a controversial figure having been stripped of a Volta title in 2009 after testing positive for CERA.
Last year, two-time Volta champion Raúl Alarcón lost his titles and was handed a…
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