Oier Lazkano

[hrotha]

Wait, biological passports are still being looked at?!?

Also, are the Friars losing their touch or what

 

[AlpRaid]

unfortunately, it takes so much time...

apparently inconsistencies in 2022, 2023, and 2024 while at Movistar.

and completely underperforming since going to Bora.

it just goes to show you how ridiculous it is to talk about Armstrong and Pantani and Contador, etc. when their "natural quality" is completely unknown (at best!) and riders can be completely TRANSFORMED by doping.

that is why I find it so laughable when posters make comparisons with riders who are known to have doped -- like we actually know what their natural level is (hint: we don't).

and it is also a cautionary tale for the cult of fans who believe a top level cyclist can improve 10+% over one winter with "new training" techniques and a shorter crank.

ROTFLMFAO!!

 

[AlpRaid]

I think this shows one thing, doping is still happening...

I would add that more importantly it makes an absolutely huge difference.

a rider who competed at the front end is nowhere without dope.

a warning to cult-fans.

 

[Rob5091]

One point is that the UCI waited until he was at Bora/Germany as in Spain the ABP is not that easy to get convictions/violations. Could be one of many reasons why 2022 anomalies were "overlooked".

 

[pastronef]

certainly an interesting one.

Would you think "unexplained abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport in 2022, 2023 and 2024" means only those years were looked at, though, or is that already in comparison to potentially more normal looking numbers in 2025?

the testing/comparison of blood passport data is so utterly slow that I don't think they had time to compare the 3 months of 2025 too (his abnormalities were probably communicated to Bora and to him at the beginning of April)
also, the passport data comparison and analysis is so random, unsure, subtle and difficult that I think not even the testers across all laboratories have a common method. it takes 3 years because the difficulties is knowing and proving what's abnormal are something very hard. the blood passport analysis is probably the hardest method in anti-doping.

 

[pastronef]

The true clinic purist understands that this is just the UCI sending The Germans a warning now they have Remco on board, like they did with Hessmann/Visma.

well Visma won 2 GT this year and podiumed all 3

 

[pastronef]

One point is that the UCI waited until he was at Bora/Germany as in Spain the ABP is not that easy to get convictions/violations. Could be one of many reasons why 2022 anomalies were "overlooked".

I don't think, because of the slooooow process of passport analysis and comparison, the UCI-WADA checked the first 3 months of 2025 (he probably was informed of the abnormalities at the beginning of April). and probably, because of the legal and threshold thin line, the UCI needed the full 3 years comparison 2022-23-24 to stand of some kind of solid grounds to suspend him.
the fact he's with Bora is a just a detail. his ABP violations are with the Spanish Movistar

 

[Cookster15]

Agreed a lot of questions... I find it odd that they find abnormalities in his blood passports dating back to 2022. We are almost in 2026 now... Why did it take so long? What are the abnormalities?

Well I suppose 4 years to catch Lazkano beats the 8 years it took to nail the 2011 Vuelta winner. Progress?

Frankly I think it needs to be 48 hours.

 

[peterfin]

I don't think, because of the slooooow process of passport analysis and comparison, the UCI-WADA checked the first 3 months of 2025 (he probably was informed of the abnormalities at the beginning of April). and probably, because of the legal and threshold thin line, the UCI needed the full 3 years comparison 2022-23-24 to stand of some kind of solid grounds to suspend him.
the fact he's with Bora is a just a detail. his ABP violations are with the Spanish Movistar

If they need that much time, I wonder how many they follow at the moment but lack the ground to suspend them atm?

 

[SafeBet]

A number of Red Bull riders underperformed this year: Vlasov, Pithie, Dani Martinez, Van Gils, Tratnik...
Even Adria who ironically will move to Movistar next year.

 

[search]

Movistar has now sent out a statement, including a bit more information. For example, that samples from 2025 were not taken into account indeed ("samples provided by the Rider between 7 January 2020 to 30 December 2024").

Yesterday afternoon, October 30, 2025, the International Cycling Union sent a communication via e-mail to Abarca Sports in the following terms:

We extract the communication verbatim for a better understanding:

“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) hereby informs you that the UCI asserts that the Spanish rider, Mr. Oier Lazkano Lopez, has committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for Use of a Prohibited Substance and/or Prohibited Method under Article 2.2 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules (UCI ADR). The assertion is grounded on the unanimous opinion rendered by a panel of three independent scientific experts (Expert Panel) on 23 October 2025 according to which the hematological profile composed of samples provided by the Rider between 7 January 2020 to 30 December 2024 establishes that:

“it is highly likely that a prohibited substance or prohibited method has been used and that it is unlikely that the passport is the result of any other cause.”

The Expert Panel reached their conclusion after the review of the Rider’s Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) as well as the explanation and supporting documentation provided by the Rider. Please note that this notice is sent to you as Mr. Lazkano Lopez was contracted to your Team at the time of the relevant offences identified in his ABP (i.e. 2022, 2023 and 2024)”.

The UCI continues in its communication:

“At this stage and until this notification, the UCI had to keep the matter confidential beyond the Anti-Doping Organizations as per the applicable regulations.

After review of the Rider’s explanation and supporting documentation, the Expert Panel rendered a unanimous opinion confirming its previous assessment.

The Rider was informed by letter of today that the ADRV is asserted pursuant to the UCI ADR.”

IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE, Abarca Sports wishes to state the following:

- First of all, that it is not until yesterday afternoon, October 30, 2025, that he has become aware of this situation.

- Secondly, that during the 3 seasons of contractual relationship with Mr. Lazkano (of the 5 to which the UCI study refers) all the controls to which he was subjected by the different national and international organizations, as well as internal to the team itself, yielded a negative result. By virtue of this, it was materially impossible to know, or even intuit, any anomaly such as the one now presented in the procedure opened by the International Cycling Union.

- And thirdly and most importantly, Abarca Sports reiterates once again with absolute firmness its unwavering commitment to a clean and transparent sport. To this end, we will redouble with absolute determination all the efforts, controls and measures that we have been promoting to date.

In Pamplona, on 31 October 2025.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Movistar has now sent out a statement, including a bit more information. For example, that samples from 2025 were not taken into account indeed ("samples provided by the Rider between 7 January 2020 to 30 December 2024").

Yesterday afternoon, October 30, 2025, the International Cycling Union sent a communication via e-mail to Abarca Sports in the following terms:

We extract the communication verbatim for a better understanding:

“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) hereby informs you that the UCI asserts that the Spanish rider, Mr. Oier Lazkano Lopez, has committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) for Use of a Prohibited Substance and/or Prohibited Method under Article 2.2 of the UCI Anti-Doping Rules (UCI ADR). The assertion is grounded on the unanimous opinion rendered by a panel of three independent scientific experts (Expert Panel) on 23 October 2025 according to which the hematological profile composed of samples provided by the Rider between 7 January 2020 to 30 December 2024 establishes that:

“it is highly likely that a prohibited substance or prohibited method has been used and that it is unlikely that the passport is the result of any other cause.”

The Expert Panel reached their conclusion after the review of the Rider’s Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) as well as the explanation and supporting documentation provided by the Rider. Please note that this notice is sent to you as Mr. Lazkano Lopez was contracted to your Team at the time of the relevant offences identified in his ABP (i.e. 2022, 2023 and 2024)”.

The UCI continues in its communication:

“At this stage and until this notification, the UCI had to keep the matter confidential beyond the Anti-Doping Organizations as per the applicable regulations.

After review of the Rider’s explanation and supporting documentation, the Expert Panel rendered a unanimous opinion confirming its previous assessment.

The Rider was informed by letter of today that the ADRV is asserted pursuant to the UCI ADR.”

IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE, Abarca Sports wishes to state the following:

- First of all, that it is not until yesterday afternoon, October 30, 2025, that he has become aware of this situation.

- Secondly, that during the 3 seasons of contractual relationship with Mr. Lazkano (of the 5 to which the UCI study refers) all the controls to which he was subjected by the different national and international organizations, as well as internal to the team itself, yielded a negative result. By virtue of this, it was materially impossible to know, or even intuit, any anomaly such as the one now presented in the procedure opened by the International Cycling Union.

- And thirdly and most importantly, Abarca Sports reiterates once again with absolute firmness its unwavering commitment to a clean and transparent sport. To this end, we will redouble with absolute determination all the efforts, controls and measures that we have been promoting to date.

In Pamplona, on 31 October 2025.

From what I understand it's highly likely he gets a ban now, with the time it has taken to come out. As you can see in this statement, lakzano already had the chance to submit explanations and evidence, and this has already been rejected.

Could be the end of his career (Roson got a similar case at the same age for instance). Certainly looks unlikely that my ambitious prediction that he will have a better palmares than van aert will be a reality.

 

[pastronef]

From what I understand it's highly likely he gets a ban now, with the time it has taken to come out. As you can see in this statement, lakzano already had the chance to submit explanations and evidence, and this has already been rejected.

Could be the end of his career (Roson got a similar case at the same age for instance). Certainly looks unlikely that my ambitious prediction that he will have a better palmares than van aert will be a reality.

maybe the ban will start from April so 7 months already ducked from the suspension. Anicolor/Arabay will have a place for him when he gets back. maybe Li-Ning star too

 

[Samu Cuenca]

It would be funny if he tried to pull a Pecharromán on Denk by stopping to dope right after he had signed a big contract, but that it had backfired massively. I don't think it's too likely to be the case since he was already at a WT team, unless he feared there could be consequences if he kept it up.

I do hope the teams that sign Gee and Lafay will have done their homework beforehand, if there is any to be done.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Certainly looks unlikely that my ambitious prediction that he will have a better palmares than van aert will be a reality.

Van Aert has never been Spanish champion or top 10ed the Dauphiné. Of course Lazkano may soon not officially have done that either, but then they will still be equals at worst.

 

[Rob5091]

I don't think, because of the slooooow process of passport analysis and comparison, the UCI-WADA checked the first 3 months of 2025 (he probably was informed of the abnormalities at the beginning of April). and probably, because of the legal and threshold thin line, the UCI needed the full 3 years comparison 2022-23-24 to stand of some kind of solid grounds to suspend him.
the fact he's with Bora is a just a detail. his ABP violations are with the Spanish Movistar

Well, they popped Salas after only 6 blood samples (https://www.tntsports.co.uk/cycling...d-after-court-decision_sto7828908/story.shtml) and it was only WADA appealing to CAS that got him the ban plus there's lots of other weird and wonderful Spanish doping legends -
Mosquera Mayo Heras
If it's taken 3 years worth of data to suspend (this is going to run and run, I guess) then it must be marginal. Unless WADA have some new secret super-duper test.

 

[Sciatic]

From what I understand it's highly likely he gets a ban now, with the time it has taken to come out. As you can see in this statement, lakzano already had the chance to submit explanations and evidence, and this has already been rejected.

Could be the end of his career (Roson got a similar case at the same age for instance). Certainly looks unlikely that my ambitious prediction that he will have a better palmares than van aert will be a reality.

It will depend on how good his legal team is—haven’t athletes used various mechanism to invalidate the BP results as valid proof?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Movistar PR getting ahead of the story, the suggestion that it’s more related to Caja, and that RB request the data from the rider before signing, so someone has *** up.

La investigación que llevó a la suspensión por dopaje del ciclista Oier Lazkano

Los investigadores requisaron en abril el móvil y el ordenador del corredor, cuyo pasaporte biológico registró valores anómalos en cuatro ocasiones

elpais.com

 

[Rob5091]

Movistar PR getting ahead of the story, the suggestion that it’s more related to Caja, and that RB request the data from the rider before signing, so someone has *** up.

La investigación que llevó a la suspensión por dopaje del ciclista Oier Lazkano

Los investigadores requisaron en abril el móvil y el ordenador del corredor, cuyo pasaporte biológico registró valores anómalos en cuatro ocasiones

elpais.com

Thanks for the link!
The blame game has started! Who will get left with egg all over their face? Pretty obvious it's Movistar, although I don't suppose for one minute that the team knew what was going on.
The ITA doing what they promised by also going after doping networks by grabbing his phone and computer, but they'll probably only find a "cut out" if Lazkano's smart (somone like a soigneur like Rozman or Vicente Belda Garcia).

 

[search]

has the article changed? I don't see any blame on Caja Rural in there - only referenced when the author speculates about investigators also looking at his past.

 

[Tim Cahill]

has the article changed? I don't see any blame on Caja Rural in there - only referenced when the author speculates about investigators also looking at his past.

This part, my translate might be off but I think the subtext is that it has to do with Ilex, I.e the contacts were made and embedded within the Caja team, this journalist has reported on Movistar in the past so they will have been contacted for this, Freibe was also making the same link this morning;

“sus posibles conexiones con entrenadores extremeños en sus años en el Caja Rural, equipo en el que pasó sus años como amateur, uno de los mejores que había conocido el ciclismo español. Un crack desde cadete que a los 25 años entregaba móvil y ordenador con su intimidad.”

Of course as Rob said it would be naive to suggest Movistar didn’t know, with the signings of Aular, Piepoli(!), Nairo, their only real move here PR wise is to make sure the blame is spread around. RB are going down the say nothing route from what I can see.

 

[Netserk]

Movistar PR getting ahead of the story, the suggestion that it’s more related to Caja, and that RB request the data from the rider before signing, so someone has *** up.

La investigación que llevó a la suspensión por dopaje del ciclista Oier Lazkano

Los investigadores requisaron en abril el móvil y el ordenador del corredor, cuyo pasaporte biológico registró valores anómalos en cuatro ocasiones

elpais.com

https://archive.ph/WlRM2

In mid-April, the anti-doping police knocked on Oier Lazkano’s door in Andorra.
Agents from the International Testing Agency (ITA)—the independent office in charge of controlling and managing doping matters for several international federations—accompanied by members of the Civil Guard’s UCO specialized in the fight against doping, informed the cyclist from Vitoria that they were opening an investigation file after observing that, over the previous three years, his biological passport had shown abnormal values on four occasions.

The Red Bull rider was told, according to sources close to the investigation, that they needed him to hand over his mobile phone and personal computer so they could copy their contents and look into his supposed connections with the doping underworld—suppliers, doctors, colleagues, coaches—and, beyond his relationship with Leo Piepoli, his official coach at Movistar, his possible links with coaches from Extremadura during his years with Caja Rural, the team where he spent his amateur years, one of the best Spanish cycling had known.
A prodigy since cadet level, at age 25 he handed over his phone and computer along with his privacy.

Although after April he did not compete in any other race (the last one he rode was Paris-Roubaix on Sunday the 13th), Lazkano was still part of Red Bull, and in May he took part in the team’s training camp in Andorra in preparation for the Dauphiné Libéré, the mountain race in which, showing exceptional ability for a big and heavy rouleur, Lazkano had finished ninth in 2024. A month later, in the Tour, Lazkano was the first to cross the summit of the Tourmalet.

Red Bull then decided to sign him despite Movistar’s efforts to keep him as the spearhead of their team. The German team’s greater financial power prevailed. It was during the Andorra training camp in May that Lazkano underwent his last anti-doping control—and when the team decided to stop him. He did not race in the Dauphiné, nor the Tour, nor any other competition afterward. Without any explanation, Lazkano vanished from the cycling radar.

Until the end of October. Last Thursday, the client of the ITA in this case—the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)—announced that the investigation file on the 25-year-old Lazkano had been turned into a disciplinary case, accompanied by a provisional suspension for alleged doping, which will be resolved within a week.

The panel of three hematology experts who studied his hematological profile and the reticulocyte and hemoglobin data that deviated from the established pattern concluded unanimously that it was more probable that Lazkano had resorted to a prohibited method (EPO, transfusions, etc.) to increase his performance. The cyclist, who did not offer credible explanations for those values, faces a possible sanction of four years of suspension. The anomalies in the biological passport are an indirect method: no substance was found in urine or blood.

The visit—and its content, a new step in a three-year investigative path—summarizes in some way the new way anti-doping agencies operate and their use of increasingly heavy artillery in an increasingly complex environment. Although the statistics they handle indicate a prevalence of doping in world sport of over 20%, traditional laboratory analyses do not detect banned substances in more than 2% of analyzed samples.

The use of persistence and intelligence as tools in the fight against doping is accompanied by such a strict regulation that it considers telling the truth a duty, and that whoever lies—a behavior sometimes necessary for those defending themselves—deserves a separate sanction in addition to that for doping itself.

This punishment was suffered by the athlete Mo Katir for crudely altering the date on a boarding pass that would have proven an unplanned trip on a day when he did not open the door to a tester (a two-year sanction became four), and it could also have been imposed additionally on Lazkano if he had not handed over what was requested: not cooperating is equivalent to obstruction.

And the cyclist had always cooperated throughout three years of countless surprise tests at his home during the years (from 2022 to 2024) when he was with Movistar, the period in which they found strange parameters—or in the few months he rode with Red Bull.

It was a methodical and meticulous process, similar to the one used by athletics’ anti-doping authorities with marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich, on whose phone they found evidence of an alleged doping network. The ITA only took the final step when the fourth abnormal value appeared and they finally felt that all the loose ends were properly tied up.

The suspension of Lazkano has awakened good-faith fans from a certain slumber—a cloud in which all cycling figures repeat that the dark times are past—to the recurring questions: Has cycling really changed?

It also worries Telefónica, the main sponsor of the Movistar team, and Abarca, the company that owns the team, held by Eusebio Unzué and Israeli shipowner Idan Ofer (43% of the shares).

In a statement released on Friday, Movistar emphasized that it was unaware—obviously—of the biological passport data of the cyclist, noting that neither its doctors nor its managers have access to the data recorded in the Adams program, which is protected by the rider’s personal password. The results of the analyses that the UCI requires every four months were also normal, the team explained.

Red Bull also had no suspicion when it signed him, which also surprises experts, who recall that when a team is about to sign a rider, the first thing it asks for is his TrainingPeaks password (the training program) and that of Adams.

 

[ice&fire]

There's something I don't get from that article in El Pais

Movistar didn't know anything because ABP data in the Adams System is protected with the rider personal password which the team staff don't have.

RB didn't suspect anything when they signed him, but "experts" are surprised because when a team signs a new rider the first thing they request are his passwords for TrainingPeaks and the Adams System?

 

[Samamba]

There's something I don't get from that article in El Pais

Movistar didn't know anything because ABP data in the Adams System is protected with the rider personal password which the team staff don't have.

RB didn't suspect anything when they signed him, but "experts" are surprised because when a team signs a new rider the first thing they request are his passwords for TrainingPeaks and the Adams System?

Yeah Movistar is simply unprofessional. It is private, but obviously you ask a riders' permission. Anyone who says no should be suspicious already. And if Red Bull checked it their own expert didn't do a good job I would say.

 

[Tim Cahill]

There's something I don't get from that article in El Pais

Movistar didn't know anything because ABP data in the Adams System is protected with the rider personal password which the team staff don't have.

RB didn't suspect anything when they signed him, but "experts" are surprised because when a team signs a new rider the first thing they request are his passwords for TrainingPeaks and the Adams System?

Yeah that really stuck out, seemed like a double standard no? Here are all the talking points I’ve seen in various articles and on social media this morning regarding this;

- “3 out of 5 years” the rider was tested for at Movistar all came back clean.

- Lazkano connected to shadowy figures outside the team.

- Didn’t see ABP data

- Lack of diligence by RB

In my opinion Movistar are bang to rights, but they are getting their story out there, hammering their points home in the media, trying to get ahead of things. Meanwhile we first found out Lazkano was no longer with RB from a sidenote in a random article.

They could come out of this well, get all their guys out there talking about how none of his anomalous readings pertain to the past 10 months, about how their internal testing clearly stifled a lone wolf connected to actors outside the team, we stopped him racing and kicked him out as soon as we knew. They knew this was coming, they have had months to figure out how to handle it. Where is the strategy, and if it’s this, then do they realise that regardless of how well-meaning it might be it makes them look guilty, where’s Denk going on the attack, fronting up.

Maybe my social media algorithm is just Hispanic and they are doing all of these things. Or maybe we will get a carefully worded committee led version of events, 2 weeks later, when everyone apart from like 4 guys on here are past giving a ***.