2016 was López's breakthrough season. He finished 4th in the Tour de San Luis, the first race of his season, winning Stage 6 and taking the young rider classification. One month later, López finished third and won a stage at the Tour de Langkawi, an eight-day race held in Malaysia. The biggest win yet of his career came at the Tour de Suisse, where he won the general classification ahead of Ion Izagirre and Warren Barguil. Following these successes, López was one of five riders selected to represent Colombia in the road race at the Olympics. López started his first grand tour at the Vuelta a España where he was the chosen team leader but he was forced to abandon the race on Stage 6 following a crash on Stage 3.