Amaro Antunes, winner of three Tours of Portugal, announced this Monday the “immediate” end of his career, in a statement sent to Lusa, in which he justifies his goodbye to cycling, at the age of 32, with the loss of motivation and the I like training. .
“I am announcing that I have decided, after long consideration, to leave professional cycling, which I embraced 11 years ago, effective immediately. Last spring, the untimely death of my mother and the ‘Clean Proof’ criminal case […] It made me lose all my motivation and taste for training, which is essential to face another season to the fullest of my abilities”, he justifies.
The only one of the 11 W52-FC Porto cyclists who was not suspended or prosecuted within the framework of the ‘Prova Limpa’ operation — his companions were accused by the Public Ministry (MP) of trafficking in prohibited substances and methods – , Antunes emphasizes that his case has been filed.
“Although the farewell is not as I had imagined, I remember my career with pride. I worked hard, with a lot of passion and pleasure, and I achieved remarkable results, both in Portugal and at the top of the WorldTour”, he recalls, in the note sent to the agency lusa
The Algarve, which turned 32 on November 27, says goodbye to cycling with three victories in the Tour of Portugal to its credit, in the 2021, 2020 and 2017 editions, this ‘inherited’ due to the winner’s disqualification for doping, his compatriot Raúl Alarcón.
With the colors of W52-FC Porto, he also won the ‘queen’ stage of the 2017 Volta ao Algarve, in Alto do Malhão, his usual training place, in an edition in which he finished fifth overall.
It was for the ‘dragons’ with which he reaped the greatest victories of a professional career that began at LA-Antarte, in 2011, a team he represented again between 2015 and 2016, after passing through Carmín-Prio (2012). and the Banco Versión BIC-Carmin de Tavira (2014), as well as the Italian Ceramica Flaminia-Fondriest (2013).
After his performance in the 2017 Tour, in which he finished second behind Alarcón, after winning the Joaquim Agostinho Trophy, he emigrated to the Polish CCC, which the following year was promoted to the WorldTour, which allowed him to participate in the Tour of Italy, where he was third on the 19th stage, having been in the top 10 overall between the 6th and 11th stages.
On his return to Portugal, he won two Tours of Portugal, placing himself, along with Joaquim Agostinho and Alves Barbosa, in the batch of the third most successful, behind David Blanco (five) and Marco Chagas (four).
“Now it’s time to enjoy other things in life and be there for the people I love the most. I would like to express my special thanks to my family, the teams where I competed, colleagues and opponents who have always made me improve. and grow as a cyclist, and to all those who supported me during my career, ”he says in the statement.
Despite having signed a contract with ABTF-Feirense for the current season, Amaro Antunes, who has not competed since June, after the scandal that caused the União Ciclista Internacional (UCI) to withdraw the license from W52-FC Porto on the eve of the Tour de Portugal, opted for an abrupt end to his career.
“I hope and wish, given the latest events, that a new era of cycling can emerge in Portugal”, concludes the note signed by the cyclist from Vila Nova de Cacela.
Amaro Antunes’ decision is known three days after Lusa revealed that the MP accused 26 defendants, including former sports director Nuno Ribeiro and the “boss” of the team Adriano Quintanilha, of trafficking in prohibited substances and methods, with these two also answer for the crime of administration of prohibited substances and methods and be accused, together with the general director Hugo Veloso, of having developed a “scheme” of doping to “increase the profitability” of the team’s riders.
Source: TSF
