W52–FC_Porto–Porto_Canal
W52–FC Porto
Portuguese cycling team
W52–FC Porto (UCI team code: W52) was a professional road bicycle racing team, which participated in UCI Continental Circuits races before a doping scandal. This team is based in Felgueiras, Portugal,[1] its title sponsors are clothing brand W52, and sports club FC Porto.[2]
Founded in 2004, the team spent the first eight years competing at youth level (up to under-23) until it was registered as a UCI Continental team in 2013, under the commercial designation of OFM–Quinta da Lixa–Goldentimes. That year, the team competed for the first time in the Volta a Portugal, where it won three stages and, through Alejandro Marque, the general classification.[3] The team won the general classification in the following four editions – through Gustavo César (2), Rui Vinhas and João Rodrigues – and added victories in the team classification.[4][5]
In 2022, the team's sports license was revoked by UCI for doping, with seven cyclists being suspended from three to seven years. The team's assistant sports director, José Rodrigues, received a 25-year suspension by ADoP.[6]
