Colombian cyclist Miguel Angel Lopez has been handed a four-year doping ban.

The sport’s governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), said the 30-year-old had violated rules for “use and possession of a prohibited substance” before the 2022 Giro d’Italia.

The UCI said he had used a banned hormone called Menotropin.

Lopez was provisionally suspended on 25 July 2023 and the ban will run until 24 July 2027.

The Colombian was sacked by the Astana team in December 2022 when it alleged he had links with a Spanish doctor who was under investigation as part of a doping ring.

The UCI said evidence from Spanish police and the country’s national doping agency was used in their investigation against Lopez.

Lopez finished third in both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana in 2018. He has also previously won a stage on the 2020 Tour de France.