Operation Ilex

[Sciatic]

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.

CAS is a joke on these cases

 

[Tim Cahill]

Superman will be launching his appeal, I like the way he has his own header and branding on his letters to the UCI

https://twitter.com/x/status/1795845059436576835

 

[Rob5091]

Just to make this more "fun", if I'm correct, it's not a criminal offense to take a WADA banned substance in Spain (unlike Germany). The police in Spain only get involved with traficking, medical malpractise, financial irregularities with money laundering to hide "extra income".

Spain's National Anti-doping Agency (CELAD) could not get hold of the info from the case in November 2022, so I assume they have done so since then -
https://as.com/ciclismo/mas_ciclism...an-lopez-investigados-en-una-red-de-dopaje-n/
The CELAD (Spanish Agency for the Fight against Doping in Sport) is finding it difficult to act and proceed to open files that could lead to sanctions or, for the time being, provisional withdrawals of licenses, as in the case of the athletes or Belda's son (considered 'support personnel'). Judge Aida María de la Cruz de la Torre, according to AS, who is handling the case in the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 4 of Cáceres, has denied the information to CELAD until the proceedings are dismissed, although the Anti-Doping Law established that there should be channels of collaboration. CELAD cannot, therefore, send the information to the ITA (International Testing Agency) to which the International Cycling Union delegates doping matters, for possible action against Superman López.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

So they say he doped at the 2022 Giro but only banned him from July 2023 onward so he gets to keep his results? Seems like they just want to end his career.

 

[samhocking]

So they say he doped at the 2022 Giro but only banned him from July 2023 onward so he gets to keep his results? Seems like they just want to end his career.

The period of suspension doesn't always begin at the date a positive sample is collected or a violation happened (or it seems both in this instance), it is often from when provisionally suspended, which is the case here. ie Lopez was provisionally suspended in July 2023 so that's when his suspension must begin according to the rules, because the provisional period counts towards the suspension.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The period of suspension doesn't always begin at the date a positive sample is collected or a violation happened (or it seems both in this instance), it is often from when provisionally suspended, which is the case here. ie Lopez was provisionally suspended in July 2023 so that's when his suspension must begin according to the rules, because the provisional period counts towards the suspension.

Quite often, though, they make the suspensions retroactive where there is a specific point of offence as the provisional suspensions can start at the date of the publication of the positive test, whereas there wasn't one of those to actively implement a provisional suspension in Supermán's case.

I think this may have caused some confusion because López's issue isn't a longitudinal positive as these after-the-fact ones often are (take Rosón or Alarcón, where several years of results were removed, but the suspension was forward-dated), but while he had become persona non grata at the top level and been terminated by Astana, he was not riding while an actual active case hung over him like, say, Contador in 2011, meaning they can't just take his 2023 results from him and backdate the suspension the way they were able to on that occasion.

Mind you, while he may be done at the top level, he'll only be, what, 33 when the suspension is done? He could still have a decent career in South America afterward if he cares enough to.

 

[samhocking]

Quite often, though, they make the suspensions retroactive where there is a specific point of offence as the provisional suspensions can start at the date of the publication of the positive test, whereas there wasn't one of those to actively implement a provisional suspension in Supermán's case.

I think this may have caused some confusion because López's issue isn't a longitudinal positive as these after-the-fact ones often are (take Rosón or Alarcón, where several years of results were removed, but the suspension was forward-dated), but while he had become persona non grata at the top level and been terminated by Astana, he was not riding while an actual active case hung over him like, say, Contador in 2011, meaning they can't just take his 2023 results from him and backdate the suspension the way they were able to on that occasion.

Mind you, while he may be done at the top level, he'll only be, what, 33 when the suspension is done? He could still have a decent career in South America afterward if he cares enough to.

I'm not aware there's any such thing as a retroactive suspension. They can retroactively null results, but as this is from the Giro 2022 he had no results in terms of ranking points so nothing to null as other riders didn't lose points because of his offences. Under some circumstances the suspension can be backdated to an earlier date if the athlete promptly admits the violation and accepts the sanction if that's what you mean by retroactive suspension? But obviously Lopez will fight this until he's out of money paying his lawyer probably so that wasn't an option he took.

 

[Netserk]

Contador and Valverde were retroactively suspended. I don't think Valverde admitted anything.

 

[samhocking]

Contador and Valverde were retroactively suspended. I don't think Valverde admitted anything.

I'd have to check for Valverde, but Contador's suspension began 25th Jan 2011 but he was already provisionally suspended 6 months beforehand so his net suspension was already running the same as Lopez. Contadors suspension therefore started in August 2010 and ended 6th August 2012 to cover the two years.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

I'd have to check for Valverde, but Contador's suspension began 25th Jan 2011 but he was already provisionally suspended 6 months beforehand so his net suspension was already running the same as Lopez. Contadors suspension therefore started in August 2010 and ended 6th August 2012 to cover the two years.

Contador was in fact not provisionally suspended (kinda difficult to win the Giro while suspended), but his ban was backdated to the date of his positive.

 

[Netserk]

Contador was in fact not provisionally suspended (kinda difficult to win the Giro while suspended), but his ban was backdated to the date of his positive.

He was by his team until the NADO cleared him.

 

[samhocking]

Contador was in fact not provisionally suspended (kinda difficult to win the Giro while suspended), but his ban was backdated to the date of his positive.

UCI press release says he was first made aware of the positive test on 24 August so that's when he was provisionally suspended. A Clenbutorol positive isn't in a substance class where it's possible to carry on racing after an AAF you have to be suspended, unless the code was different back then?

 

[Sciatic]

Just to make this more "fun", if I'm correct, it's not a criminal offense to take a WADA banned substance in Spain (unlike Germany). The police in Spain only get involved with traficking, medical malpractise, financial irregularities with money laundering to hide "extra income".

Spain's National Anti-doping Agency (CELAD) could not get hold of the info from the case in November 2022, so I assume they have done so since then -
https://as.com/ciclismo/mas_ciclism...an-lopez-investigados-en-una-red-de-dopaje-n/
The CELAD (Spanish Agency for the Fight against Doping in Sport) is finding it difficult to act and proceed to open files that could lead to sanctions or, for the time being, provisional withdrawals of licenses, as in the case of the athletes or Belda's son (considered 'support personnel'). Judge Aida María de la Cruz de la Torre, according to AS, who is handling the case in the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 4 of Cáceres, has denied the information to CELAD until the proceedings are dismissed, although the Anti-Doping Law established that there should be channels of collaboration. CELAD cannot, therefore, send the information to the ITA (International Testing Agency) to which the International Cycling Union delegates doping matters, for possible action against Superman López.

Shades of Puerto . . . Testing of those blood bags will happen maybe, possibility, soon, later —and finally not at all.

 

[pastronef]

any news about other riders involved in the Ilex investigation? (any Caja Rural riders?)

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I'm not aware there's any such thing as a retroactive suspension. They can retroactively null results, but as this is from the Giro 2022 he had no results in terms of ranking points so nothing to null as other riders didn't lose points because of his offences. Under some circumstances the suspension can be backdated to an earlier date if the athlete promptly admits the violation and accepts the sanction if that's what you mean by retroactive suspension? But obviously Lopez will fight this until he's out of money paying his lawyer probably so that wasn't an option he took.

By retroactive suspension I mean those suspensions where a rider was active between the offence and the enforcement, where they backdate to where the offence is as this is where provisional suspension comes in, which he was appealing and so riding on while it was being contested.

Valverde is an especially unusual case as his suspension came in in Italy a long time before his formal suspension. He was banned in Italy as of May 2009, running until May 2011, but was for some time free to ride elsewhere. When the ban was extended worldwide in May 2010, it was backdated to January 1st - presumably designed as a compromise of sorts in order to keep the suspension to approximately 2 years; extending it worldwide for 2 years from May 2010 would effectively be sanctioning him more because of the races he couldn't enter in 2009 (including the Tour as it detoured into Italy that year), but allowing him back in May 2011 would in effect only have been a one year ban as it would either allow him to keep a Dauphiné and a Vuelta won while supposedly suspended, or entail reallocating races that had been, on the surface, won fairly; there was not the opportunity to use a positive test to void results back to a specific date like there was with Contador either, as the offence in Valverde's case was his DNA matching one of the Puerto blood bags.

The eventual outcome was always going to be a mess in Valverde's case and so it's rather anomalous because the retroactive date of the suspension was somewhat arbitrary and presumably the result of some intensive behind-the-scenes negotiations.

 

[samhocking]

There was quite a lot of Spanish NADO / Spanish Federation power back then so I see what you mean, but in terms of WADA, nothing was retrospective, simply aligned to when he was notified which is the normal way provisional suspension start date forms the period of ineligibility until officially sanctioned through a tribunal.
As for Valverde it was even more complex with Italy involved.

 

[Cycling111]

Is Lazkano's disappearance related to this?
Several cyclists from Caja Rural in last 5-6 years were with Dr. Maynar.

Although if this is the reason, it's Aular who shouldn't be competing.
At the time, I was surprised by Aular's signing for Movistar, since when Maynar was investigated and Miguel Angel Lopez was sanctioned, they found evidence that Maynar had prescribed doping substances to Aular.
Aular was the most involved cyclist in the police record of Maynar. In Latin America, it was expected that Aular would be sanctioned., along with Miguel Ángel Lopez.

 

[Rob5091]

It seems you can link Dr Maynar with just about every Spanish and in fact most teams. He famously sent out an offer to teams to do testing just the same way as WADA does Superman Lopez got busted because police had all the text messages about what to take etc. If Aular was smarter then Lopez, then it was all plain sailing.

 

[Cycling111]

Lazkano has finally been sanctioned, but for his time at Movistar.
I thought it might be because of Caja Rural, given Dr. Maynar's close involvement with the team.

Apparently, there wasn't enough evidence to implicate Caja Rural and Aular, the cyclist who appeared in the documents along with Miguel Angel Lopez, who is suspended for that case.

 

[Sciatic]

Is Lazkano's disappearance related to this?
Several cyclists from Caja Rural in last 5-6 years were with Dr. Maynar.

Although if this is the reason, it's Aular who shouldn't be competing.
At the time, I was surprised by Aular's signing for Movistar, since when Maynar was investigated and Miguel Angel Lopez was sanctioned, they found evidence that Maynar had prescribed doping substances to Aular.
Aular was the most involved cyclist in the police record of Maynar. In Latin America, it was expected that Aular would be sanctioned., along with Miguel Ángel Lopez.

Good call (well, not good for him) re: Lazcano.

 

[Rob5091]

From September this year, (google translation) - is Ferrari really back?!
https://archive.is/20250918070741/h...dicos-dopaje-nunca-van-20250917194433-nt.html

Twenty years ago, in the winter of 2006, a doctor related to cycling who hid his name in anonymity made a mental account with ABC about the benefits that Eufemiano Fuentes could obtain with his business of blood bags and the different doping treatments organized in refrigerator chests. He had a turnover of around one million euros a year, which brought him enough dividends to appear on the famous 'Falciani list', the list of names published by the computer engineer Hervé Falciani on alleged tax evaders who had undeclared bank accounts in Switzerland.

"How are you going to retire with a turnover of one million a year? Operation Puerto is not going to end Eufemiano. He will continue in one way or another in the sport. Sure," said the anonymous voice. Twenty years have passed since the largest police raid in our country, perhaps in the world, related to doping in sport and the prognosis was simple and accurate. Anti-doping authorities leading investigations, proposing sanctions and fighting fraud in sport still think the same thing: Eufemiano Fuentes, now 70, has not retired. He is still excited by two pleasures: money and risk. ...
From the past another legend returned, Michele Ferrari, 71 years old, millionaire, the doctor of Lance Armstrong and so many others. A celebrity in the underworld of doping, of which it is difficult to find a drinkable (? useable) photograph because he has not allowed himself to be seen or portrayed in forty years of practice outside the law. Except for the trials he has had to face, there are no images of the one who always won, Ferrari. Spanish anti-doping sources suspect that the Italian doctor has returned to cycling and by extension to sport to, in the shadows, as always, instruct his clients in doping plans. Everything in words, nothing in writing.

 

[Netserk]

Good call (well, not good for him) re: Lazcano.

How so? A passport violation while at Movistar is on the face of it completely unrelated to Ilex.

 

[Cycling111]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1984527992815501796

View: https://x.com/friebos/status/1984527992815501796



Could it be that he continued the practices from his time at Caja Rural, but they were only detected starting in 2022?

Here they mention to Operation Ilex. I already mentioned that Latin American journalists thought Aular would be suspended along with Miguel Angel Lopez because they were the two cyclists most implicated.
I was always surprised by Movistar's risk in signing him at such a turbulent time, although ultimately Miguel Angel Lopez was sanctioned and Aular wasn't.

The issue of the biological passport is complex. It's not a positive test; rather, these are strange changes in biological values.that are detected over time, and they don't always mean they're due to doping. They can be caused by hormonal changes (especially in women), illnesses, or simply by the individual's genetics. Some athletes have been exonerated for these reasons, but this doesn't seem to be the case for Lazkano, since he was asked for a medical report and couldn't justify that it was due to any other reason.

 

[Sciatic]

How so? A passport violation while at Movistar is on the face of it completely unrelated to Ilex.

At the time it still unknown why Lazcano seemed to be missing in action. Cycling111's comment suggested it was related to doping issues. Which it turns out seems the case. But I wasn't focused on the specifics of any particular case so perhaps my comment doesn't apply or make sense.