On April 24, all alarms went off when the sports director of Portuguese team W52 was arrested in an operation by Portuguese Judicial Police (PJ) against a doping plot and this Monday 2023 the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority (ADoP) Nuno Ribeiro was suspended for 25 years for the crimes of trafficking, handling and possession of prohibited substances.
Nuno Ribeiro, former cyclist and sports director of W52-Portoa team that is now gone and dominated the modality at the time Portugalwas suspended on Monday by Portuguese anti-doping authorities for 25 years for the crimes of trafficking, handling and possession of banned substances.
Ribeiro, 46, was convicted Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority (ADoP) to a disqualification extending from December 16 of the previous year to December 15, 2047.
As the ADoP reported in a decision published by local media, this was due to “trafficking, handling and possession of prohibited substances and prohibited methods” while he was responsible for the cycling section of Porto, including those hormones, testosterone and betamethasone.
Ribeiro’s punishment follows a similar one imposed on his deputy, Jose Rodrigueswho in June was also disqualified for 25 years, which is the maximum sentence.
That of Rodrigues, also a masseuse at W52-Porto, was due to “possession of betamethasone, ephedrine, methamphetamine, phenethylline, human growth hormone, IGF, EPO, amphetamine, corticotropin, hydrocortisone and glucocorticoids,” the ADoP then reported .
Ribeiro – who has also been involved in doping episodes throughout his cycling career – and Rodrigues are among 26 being investigated in the case “Prova Limpa” (“Clean Test”), which in 2022 caused a real earthquake in the world of cycling in Portugal and marked the end of the Porto team after accusations of trafficking and consumption of prohibited substances.
Both were arrested by the authorities and, like the others, will be tried in court.
Many of them are former team athletes, such as João Rodrigues, winner of the Tour of Portugal in 2019who was disqualified for seven years.
This scandal follows one that affected the Spaniard Raúl Alarcón, also a former rider of the team, who in 2021 was suspended by International Cycling Union (UCI) for four years for the consumption of prohibited substances, in addition to being stripped of his achievements in Returned to Portugal in 2017 and 2018.
In January, Porto decided to end its partnership with Associação Calvário Várzea Clube de Ciclismo to form W52-Porto, which lost its UCI license.
The “dragons” still tried to stay on the road with an under-23 team, but they eventually left and the club has now been called up. Fonte Nova Felgueiras, which focuses solely on the training of young athletes.
Source: La Verdad
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