Wed, Mar 14, 2007 page19

• Spanish court dismisses doping probe

  OPERATION PUERTO Five people at the center of an alleged blood-doping network were cleared of any involvement as the case was thrown out due to lack of evidence

  • AP
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  A Spanish doping investigation which implicated nearly 60 top cyclists two days prior to the Tour de France last year has been dismissed from court, Spanish judicial sources said on Monday.

  The investigation, which came to light in May last year when police raids discovered an alleged blood-doping network run by a Madrid-based doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes, was thrown out because of a lack of evidence.

  Technically, the case could also not go the full term because at the time there was no Spanish anti-doping law.

  Residing magistrate Antonio Serrano ruled that five people at the center of the affair, including Fuentes, have been cleared of any involvement.

  Spain only recently followed France and Italy in introducing a law against doping, and the use and distribution of banned substances. The law was introduced in November last year.

  A statement by Serrano, obtained by reporters, explained on Monday: "Contrary to French and Italian legislation [...] at the time of the investigation Spanish law could not pursue anyone criminally for doping or practices linked to doping."

  However, while the case was dismissed in Spain, the sport's world ruling body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), may now decide to pursue suspected riders based on the evidence it has obtained from investigators.

  The Spanish court recently gave the UCI "unlimited access" to all the documents it possesses concerning the probe, dubbed "Operacion Puerto."

  The probe uncovered an alleged doping network said to involve 58 cyclists from a total of 200 athletes.

  Revelations implicating top cyclists led to several yellow jersey favorites being suspended by their teams two days prior to the 2006 Tour de France.

  Ivan Basso of Italy and Germany's 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich were among over a dozen riders pulled out of the race for allegedly being directly or indirectly involved in the affair.

  Christian Prudhomme, race director of the Tour, was not best pleased at the announcement given that his race was all but destroyed even before it had started by the allegations implicating several of the star attractions.

  "All that just for this result!" he said. "However I do not think that the five riders who were caught up in the affair will be largely seen again in the sport."

  In the months that followed both Basso and Ullrich were sacked by their teams, CSC and T-Mobile respectively.

  Basso, last year's Tour of Italy winner, was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Italian sports authorities over what they claimed was a lack of evidence.

  He has since joined the Discovery Channel team made famous by it's last Tour leader, seven-time winner Lance Armstrong.

  Ullrich, who like Basso has always denied any link to the affair, decided to retire last week despite him claiming he was being sought out by several top teams.
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