Following the suspensions of 10 riders from Portuguese Continental team W52-FC Porto in July and August, the Portuguese Anti-Doping Organization (ADOP) has decided to impose three to seven-year bans on seven riders from the team.

In an update to the ADOP sanctions list on Tuesday, officials said that three former Volta a Portugal winners are among those suspended from cycling as a result of the long-running Operção Prova Limpa (Clean Race) investigation.

2019 winner João Rodrigues, who also won the Volta ao Algarve in 2021 ahead of Ethan Hayter and Kasper Asgreen, was suspended for three years by ADOP for "possession of prohibited drugs," followed by the longest suspension of four years by UCI for biological passport fraud He was punished. He will lose his results for 2018 and 2021.

2011 winner Ricardo Mestre received a three-year ban for possession of the human growth hormone analogue somatropin, and Rui Viñas, the surprise winner of the 2016 Volta a Portugal, also received 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 to be in possession of betamethasone, and Ricardo Vilela and Samuel Caldeira were found to be in possession of several substances, including somatropin, insulin, human growth hormone, and TB500.

Finally, José Neves, one of the few riders to escape suspension at the W52 in July and who celebrated his race victory with a "shush" gesture, was found to be in possession of human growth hormone All seven admitted to anti-doping violations, beginning in April 2022 By accepting the suspensions, their one-year suspensions were reduced.

The ADOP is continuing its investigation, and along with team directors Nuno Ribeiro and José Rodríguez and two mechanics, four staff members and three players (Joni Brandão, Jorge Magalhais, and former Katusha player José Gonsalves) are still involved reportedly.

W52-FC Porto has been the most successful team in the country, dominating the Volta a Portugal with eight wins in the last ten years, but now only two riders, Guilherme Mota and three-time Volta champion Amaro Antunes, are currently involved in the Prova Lingpa were not involved in the investigation, which ended in disgrace.

The team was led by former racer and former Volta winner Ribeiro, who himself was controversially stripped of his Volta title in 2009 after testing positive for CERA.

Last year, two-time Volta champion Raul Alarcon lost his title and was handed a four-year ban until 2019, and this past July, another former W52 rider, Edgar Pinto, was also handed a four-year ban, though unrelated to the ongoing investigation.

The Operasan Prova Limpa was put into action in late 2021 by an anonymous tip from the police, with the W52 as the main target of the investigation: an April police raid on the team's hotel, home, warehouse, and vehicle resulted in the seizure of numerous doping products, resulting in the indictment of 10 riders and the Ribeiro was arrested along with team member Soinier.

In July, the ADOP suspended eight riders and two staff members, and the UCI suspended the entire team.

Further drama occurred before the Volta a Portugal in August, when the ADOP director revealed that he had received numerous threats, including shotgun cartridges, and was living under police surveillance.

On Wednesday, the Portuguese Cycling Federation (FPC) announced the nine Portuguese UCI Continental teams for 2023.

Team boss Adriano Quintanilla confirmed last month that he wants the W52 to remain in existence, telling JN (open in new tab) that "we can help create a clean and true sport" and promising "zero tolerance" if the license application is accepted.

Last month, the federation announced that the UCI's Biological Passport (a measure not required to operate as a continental team) will apply to all Portuguese teams.

In addition, riders and staff with doping histories will be banned from joining teams.

"After careful discussions with the government, ADOP and the UCI, we have decided to introduce a biological passport for all cyclists on the Portuguese Continental Team," said FPC President Delmino Pereira. [All cyclists registered in the team will be included in the ADOP and UCI target groups. It will be an ambitious and expensive gamble. All parties will have to increase their investments and the teams will have to bear some of the costs of this special.