The Shadow of Operación Puerto
February 16th, 2007 |VeloNews reports today that Jan Ullrich is still without a contract for 2007, but is training for the enviable phone call. VN also states that Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) are undecided regarding Disco rider Ivan Basso’s ability to participate in ASO events like the Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour de France.
On October 8 2006 the Madrid court in charge of the Puerto case told the Spanish cycling federation (Real Federación Española de Ciclismo) that it’s court documents could not be used in the federation’s investigations. So, without the evidence from the Spanish court, Ivan Basso was cleared by Italian authorities on October 13 and Jan Ullrich was cleared twelve days later.
However, despite the joy (or despair depending upon your perspective) in the cycling community regarding the dismissal of charges, the investigation by the Spanish courts regarding Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes and the athletes he worked with continues on. The court continue to take testimony from those with knowledge of the situation and this includes cyclists that were involved with Dr. Fuentes. Once the court has the information it needs you can be sure that charges will follow and all the dirt will come out during trial.
So what to do in the mean time?
While I understand and respect the desire of ASO to keep their event free from the stain of doping, I don’t see how you can keep these guys away from racing without either a positive dope test or some real evidence of doping. The truth will come out at some point, but until then Basso and Ullrich should probably be allowed to race.
Your thoughts?
