Volta a Portugal: W52-FC Porto trusts suspended cyclists but will fight for victory on the road with other athletes – Sports
“From the communication to the latest news published regarding the suspension of eight of its participants, from a communication that comes to be announced to the latest news for the truth and fair play, as well as the substance use of the latter”, begins for saying the statement signed by Adriano Quintanilha, the ‘boss’ of the team, and published in the FC Porto official.
The note indicates that it is “actively collaborating with the regulatory and supervisory entities of cycling in Portugal, namely the Portuguese Cycling Federation and ADoP, in search of the effective truth will line up in the next Volta a Portugal without “the suspended athletes”.
“The worthy results in recent years, with indisputable merits in recent years, nevertheless continue to justify the confidence that the deposit team in the cyclists, meanwhile, suspended from prevention by the ADoP, whose presumption remains intact of evidence to the contrary. ”, he added.
On 15 July, eight cyclists and two from the ‘W52-FC Porto staff’ were suspended preventive elements by the Anti-Doping Authority of Portugal (ADoP) within the scope of the ‘Clean Proof’ operation.
The following day, the identity of six of these cyclists was known when they were prevented from equipping the Douro Internacional in the third stage of the Grande Internacional, which was eventually won by José Neve, the only representative of the continuation in the race.
Ricardo Vilela and José Gonçalves were removed, in addition to four former winners of the Volta a Portugal: João Rodrigues (2019), Rui Vinhas (2016), Ricardo Vitória (2011) and Joni Brandão, who ‘inherited’ the 2018 edition of the disqualification , by doping, of the also ‘dragon’ Raúl Alarcón.
On Friday, the organization of the Volta a Portugal confirmed the presence of the W52-FC Porto in the 83rd edition of the competition, which takes place between August 4th and 15th, between Lisbon and Gaia, with the director, Jomes Gomes, the screenwriter which team is not suspended and which could participate with other contracted runners in the ‘new registration window’, which opens on August 1st.
Today, Quintanilha, that the coming of the ‘dragons’, defends the participation of the national calendar “will bring motivation to all athletes and managers, who will know how to fight for victory on the road, honoring a club and a team that has to dominate the panorama of the national cycling with indisputable merit”.
In addition to the cyclists who lined up in the Douro International GP, the W52-FC Porto also counts on its victories, with Amaro Antunes three times winner and two-time champion of the Volta (2021, 2020 and 2017), Jorge Magalhães, Samuel Caldeira and Daniel Mestre, the latter were also suspended, as confirmed by Quintanilha to the newspaper Record.
At the end of April, 10 W52-FC Porto runners were named defendants and the team’s sports director, Nuno Ribeiro, was even arrested, as was his deputy, José Rodrigues, during the ‘Clean Test’ operation, in charge of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Porto.
“The police operation, there was a total of about 120 elements from the Northern Directorate and also from the Criminal Corruption Combat Units of Braga, Vila Real and Guarda, with the collaboration of ADoP”, detailed the PJ, on 24 Of april.
The W52 structure, historic to FC Porto for six seasons, won as the last nine editions of the Volta a Portugal, but the triumphs of its Spanish rider Raúl Alarcón, in 2017 and 2018, were also withdrawn for “use of methods and/or “Prohibited Substances”.