Operation Ilex

[Sciatic]

https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noti...al-no-esconder-no-hecho-malo-588879-1024.html

Google translate -

“they told us to be calm” — time to pull out the old “I’m tranquilo” response

 

[Rob5091]

Javier Ramirez's interview with Marcos Maynar in the podcast El Contraaálisis - deny, deny and deny!
Part 1 highlights
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...nner-go-at-indurain-speeds-in-his-time-trials

Part 2 highlights mostly on Superman Lopez
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...receive-menotropin-in-hungary-during-the-giro
On OperationIlex -

"None of the riders who appear in the case have any doping problem, the only one who is attributed is Lopez because of the menotropin, but it was not for him and he never got it, he never got the menotropin."

"Since we are with the lies that the civil guard launches (remember that it is the civil guard that informs the UCI that Lopez had had in his possession menotropin and therefore the Colombian is provisionally sanctioned for doping), because the civil guard also say what they want and they want him to appear as the bad guy in the movie".

Who got the Menotropin then?

 

[Sciatic]

Javier Ramirez's interview with Marcos Maynar in the podcast El Contraaálisis - deny, deny and deny!
Part 1 highlights
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...nner-go-at-indurain-speeds-in-his-time-trials

Part 2 highlights mostly on Superman Lopez
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...receive-menotropin-in-hungary-during-the-giro
On OperationIlex -



Who got the Menotropin then?

Reminds me a bit of Basso’s claim during Puerto: yes, I had my blood stored there but never used any of it and didn’t intend to.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Jesus Ezkurdia was the leak, according to the police and appears to be in a fair bit of trouble.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1732381543128027550

 

[Rob5091]

Looks like Superman Lopez will be freed -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...to-convict-miguel-ngel-lpez-in-operation-ilex

Operation Ilex, which investigates the alleged doping plot led by Marcos Maynar, continues its development with a breaking news that leaves once again the impression that Spain is not doing everything it should in the fight against doping. The prosecutor's office in the case interprets that, despite evidence from the Guardia Civil that seems to testify to the contrary, Miguel Ángel López has not committed any crime.

The report of the prosecutor Sonia Castañeda Redondo is very different from that of the Central Operative Unit (UCO). She, as Fernando Ferrari advances in Ciclo21, does not think that López has committed any crime.

 

[yaco]

Looks like Superman Lopez will be freed -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...to-convict-miguel-ngel-lpez-in-operation-ilex

Lopez was only suspended by the UCI because they did not want him to ride the World's - It's 6 months on and Lopez still has not been officially charged by the UCI.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Harold Tejada and Caja Rural still walking the streets whilst Superman sits at home.

 

[pastronef]

Harold Tejada and Caja Rural still walking the streets whilst Superman sits at home.

let's see if Caja gets a Vuelta wild card or not (I'd leave them home this year)

 

[Ripper]

Reading some of the articles about this case, all I've got to say is, wow does Spain ever make it easy for an athlete to dope

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Reading some of the articles about this case, all I've got to say is, wow does Spain ever make it easy for an athlete to dope

The vast majority of pros spend many months of the year in Spain. Altitude at teide and Gran canaria, living in andorra or girona, winter camps in Calpe, denia, Mallorca, Malaga etc. Basically every pro is there at some point for their biggest training blocks.

 

[Sciatic]

Reading some of the articles about this case, all I've got to say is, wow does Spain ever make it easy for an athlete to dope

Not so easy for everyone in Spain:

https://www.reuters.com/sports/athletics/world-5000m-silver-medallist-katir-suspended-doping-test-violation-2024-02-07/

 

[Oldermanish]

The vast majority of pros spend many months of the year in Spain. Altitude at teide and Gran canaria, living in andorra or girona, winter camps in Calpe, denia, Mallorca, Malaga etc. Basically every pro is there at some point for their biggest training blocks.

Same as it ever was.

 

[Rob5091]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...they-set-me-up-to-take-the-product-to-hungary

Vicente Belda, the former assistant to Miguel Ángel López in the Astaná team, has broken his silence and has given his version of what happened with the Colombian cyclist and of Operation Ilex and Marcos Maynar.

Very confusing statements made by Belda Jr. to Labarga in Marca. Very confusing. On the one hand he claims that he threw the blisters, on the other that MAL and Maynar wanted to cheat him, then he denies that the Colombian has doped and ends up stating that he could be willing to denounce him. We will see how the case is resolved in the Spanish justice system, although everything points to the fact that neither Lopez nor Belda will be accused of anything;

 

[Ripper]

https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...they-set-me-up-to-take-the-product-to-hungary

Is it just me and perhaps my limited understanding of how the Spanish system works, or is it a mistake that doping in Spain seems to require a criminal conviction? In other words, is the standard too high to even chase after cases? (thinking of the differences between "reasonable likelihood", "balance of probabilities", "beyond a reasonable doubt", etc)

 

[Rob5091]

There is an ongoing dispute between WADA and CELAD Spain's anti-doping agency, plus "irregularities" now in the hands of the police - Jan 26, 2024
https://www.barrons.com/news/spain-...ief-after-irregularities-controversy-fab7edf5Spain replaced the chief of their anti-doping agency (CELAD) on Friday after accusations of malpractice.

The Spanish government demanded earlier in January that Jose Luis Terreros step down because of the "reputational damage" Spanish sport and the agency had suffered as a result.
Spain's leading governmental sports authority (CSD) had asked Terreros to resign on January 5.

The CSD passed on a report on the agency to Spanish prosecutors after an investigation into a complaint alleging "irregularities in the use of public funds and in the control and sanctioning of doping".

Spanish media outlet Relevo said CELAD had exploited bureaucratic loopholes to cover up positive cases.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) also heavily criticised CELAD and said they were holding a comprehensive investigation, while threatening "significant consequences for Spanish sport" if doping cases are not dealt with appropriately.

CELAD does seem to be the organ that passes onto the Police and prosecuters any anti-doping infringements. Maybe a person more knowledgeable can confirm the procedures. The Salas case gives an idea of the process -
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...pro-continental-rider-overturned-court-407831

 

[Rob5091]

CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) considers that Miguel Angel Lopez did not dope in the 2022 Giro d'Italia - another c**k up by the anti-dopers -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...orders-astana-pay-him-a-large-sum-of-back-pay

The CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) considers that Miguel Angel Lopez did not dope in the 2022 Giro d'Italia and therefore condemns the Astana team to pay him salaries for the year 2022 due to what it considers as his unfair dismissal.

It should be remembered that 'Superman' as he's known, is suspended as a precautionary measure by the UCI after being investigated by the Guardia Civil as part of Operation Ilex for his connections with Dr. Marcos Maynar. According to the diario AS, UCI sources have confirmed that Astana Qazaqstan Team will have to pay the Colombian rider's back wages (the Kazakh team was forced to post a bond of more than one million euros in case this happened).
Astana presented to the CAS the report in which the Guardia Civil indicated that Lopez used menotropin at the Giro, a prohibited substance that, according to the UCI, would have caused an inflammation that then made him abandon the Grand Tour.

This theory of the Guardia Civil was also the one that led the UCI to sanction the cyclist as a precautionary measure. At the moment he is still unable to compete since the corresponding disciplinary procedure was opened 9 months ago. There is still no date for whether or not there will be a firm sanction for the rider, although we assume that this CAS resolution will speed up the process. For the moment, as we say, he is still unable to race.

 

[Rob5091]

The German company PWC (Profesional Worldwide Controls) does the doping controls for CELAD and for some reason got 80,000 Euros more then the price it tendered. Who's pocket did those 80,000 Euros go into I wonder? It sounds like there's a whistleblower (or two maybe!) so maybe German authorities will also get involved.
https://www.relevo.com/mas-deportes...idopaje-adjudico-cinco-20240105090837-nt.html (in Spanish) - googling translation -

The agreement, signed on December 29 - one day after Relevo revealed the payment of irregular controls for five years to PWC - establishes an award amount of 637,900 euros despite the fact that the German company's economic offer was 558,000 euros. In other words, the highest Spanish anti-doping body, under the Higher Sports Council, will pay 80,000 euros more to the company with public funds than what it itself offered in its economic proposal to win the tender against another company. Money that could be reinvested in carrying out more controls by PWC, but it is also a practice that has not been common, at least in previous awards. We would be looking at an amount of money already invested, mortgaged to PWC unnecessarily, instead of remaining in the agency's coffers.

 

[search]

4-year ban for MAL, "guilty of an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) for use and possession of a prohibited substance (Menotropin)*, concomitantly with the 2022 Giro d’Italia"

UCI statement concerning Miguel Ángel López

www.uci.org

 

[Tim Cahill]

As usual timing is everything. Pre-Tour UCI shenanigans have already started, I wonder who's next, they usually pop a few 60 year old Italians round about this time of year.

 

[Netserk]

4-year ban for MAL, "guilty of an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) for use and possession of a prohibited substance (Menotropin)*, concomitantly with the 2022 Giro d’Italia"

UCI statement concerning Miguel Ángel López

www.uci.org

Yet CAS found him to not have violated the rules just a few weeks ago?

 

[Rob5091]

This is turning into a right ol' mess! The CAS verdict was Lopez against Astana for wrongfull dismissal.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/miguel-angel-lopez-takes-astana-to-cas/
López reiterated the fact he has not failed a doping test and has a valid UCI racing licence, before making the point that he is not a party being investigated in Operación Ilex.
"Who is being investigated," the statement pointedly claims, "is Vicente Belda García," referring to the Astana soigneur, son of the former Kelme team director, whose name was linked to Ilex and who has also left the team. Belda, according to López's statement is "the supposed receiver of drugs from Dr Maynar".

CAS decided Astana fired Lopez with a breach of contract
https://as.com/ciclismo/el-tas-conf...de-superman-no-fue-por-sustancias-dopantes-n/
Sources close to the International Cycling Union, cited by Miguel Ángel López's entourage, confirmed that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has sentenced Astana, the team in which Superman played, to pay a significant amount of money to the cyclist, corresponding to unpaid salaries for the year 2022, and that the latter would have claimed before the UCI for the payment to be made from the guarantee of the Kazakhstan team. The CAS would thus have dismissed the arguments of Astana, which suspended him after appearing as a suspect in Operation Ilex against doping that was carried out in Spain with the doctor Marcos Maynar as the ringleader. Astana submitted to the CAS the Civil Guard report that gave rise to Operation Ilex, according to which, the cyclist's injury in May 2022 that forced him to abandon the Giro d'Italia was due to the intravenous administration of menotropin, a banned substance, which caused inflammation.

However, the CAS, after listening to the Astana team's own doctors, as well as several experts, Miguel Angel López himself and reviewing the background of the case, and the medical reports, would have concluded that there is no basis to consider as proven that Superman used any type of prohibited substance, or that the injury suffered and that led him to abandon the 2022 Giro d'Italia was due to the use of menotropine. The cyclist, at the moment, continues to be suspended by the UCI, despite the non-existence of a positive result in any doping control.

 

[Ripper]

Yet CAS found him to not have violated the rules just a few weeks ago?

This case makes me wonder what the heck is going on. But, toasty-toast for now

 

[Rob5091]

So CAS have already concluded that "there is no basis to consider as proven that Superman used any type of prohibited substance, or that the injury suffered and that led him to abandon the 2022 Giro d'Italia was due to the use of menotropine. "
Have UCI got more info or what has changed?
Now, I suppose Astana will sue Lopez to get their money back as the UCI have banned him.

 

[samhocking]

Impossible to state that. ITA themselves carried out the investigation so it would seem they found evidence of use. They don't have to find evidence of it in the rider directly, simply evidence it was used. This could simply be an admission by a witness which was corroborated by someone else during ITA, CELADS or Spanish Police investigations. It could be re-testing samples with more sensitive equipment for the time period of the possession etc.

 

[Netserk]

Can't wait for him to be cleared by CAS in two years. No hurry.