Seven riders from Portuguese squad W52-FC Porto banned for doping

W52-FC Porto GP Douro Internacional 2022 Igor Martins/Global Imagens
W52-FC Porto in action at July's GP Douro Internacional (Image credit: W52-Porto/Igor Martins/Global Imagens)

Following the July and August suspensions of 10 riders from the Portuguese Continental squad W52-FC Porto, the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority (ADOP) has confirmed bans of three to seven years for seven of the squad's riders.

In an update to the ADOP sanctions list on Tuesday, the authority stated that three former winners of the Volta a Portugal were among those suspended from cycling as a result of the long-running Operação Prova Limpa (clean race) investigation.

Dani Ostanek
Senior News Writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.

Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.

Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix –  'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.