Colombia's Miguel Ángel López stepped back into the controversy that led him to quit both the 2021 Vuelta a España and Team Movistar, offering an honest criticism of his former teammate Enric Mas.

Mas and Lopez were co-leaders of Movistar at the Vuelta a España. Lopez won the toughest mountain stage in Asturias, while Mas was the most persistent rival of overall winner Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma), and the two were expected to finish second and third overall.

However, on Saturday, the final day of the race, Lopez fell behind midway through the stage and abruptly retired. Contact with the front group of leading riders, including Mass, was never recovered.

After his highly publicized abandonment, Lopez first apologized to his fans and team and agreed to terminate his recently extended contract with Movistar so that he could leave the team on October 1.

However, two months later, the former Vuelta and Giro d'Italia podium finisher strongly criticized his former teammate Enric Mas regarding team leadership. [Lopez told Colombian television station RCN's program Chupando Rueda, "The atmosphere in Movistar was always tense. 'Whenever I would step forward, Enric was always looking for a way to get in front of me.'

"In the Dauphiné I worked for [Movistar co-leader] Alejandro Valverde, but in the Grand Tour my role was not clear.

Lopez said that when he fell behind an attack by Adam Yates and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) midway through stage 20, followed by Mas and Roglic, he gave up chasing the riders ahead rather than fall off.

"I quit my job because Mas asked me to come with him, and when I was losing 40-50 seconds, (team manager) Eusebio Unzué was in the team car right behind Lopez that day. That made me really angry, so I got off the bike."

Lopez claimed that he had another discussion with Mas after stage 20, and that the Spanish rider again asked Lopez why he was chasing him from behind when Mas was in front in the clear.

"Enric is a selfish person and I never want to race with him again," Lopez told RCN.

However, when he abandoned during the race, Lopez said that his loss in the Vuelta was a "mistake" and added, "I'm criticized because I didn't [race], but we are human beings."

His wife, Natalia Acevedo, also Instagrammed at the time, adding, "It's easy to talk when you don't know the situation."