Anti-Doping Agency Drops Pereiro Probe
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Thursday, January 25, 2007
(01-25) 08:30 PST PARIS, France (AP) --
France's anti-doping agency dropped its investigation Thursday of Tour de France runner-up Oscar Pereiro, saying the Spanish rider provided sufficient justification for use of an asthma medication.
The French newspaper Le Monde had reported Pereiro tested positive for salbutamol during the 2006 Tour.
Although the International Cycling Union said he had authorization to use the drug, the French anti-doping agency asked Pereiro to send medical justification. In a statement Thursday, its president, Pierre Bordry, said he had received a satisfactory explanation.
Pereiro will inherit the 2006 Tour title if winner Floyd Landis loses an appeal of his positive doping test.
"After a thorough examination of the documentation, the agency's doctors concluded that the dossiers conform," Bordry said in a statement. "The agency regrets that it took so long to obtain these."
The French anti-doping agency previously said it had sent Pereiro three requests since August for medical information to show that he needed salbutamol and that the UCI waiver was not hiding an attempt to cheat.
Bordry criticized the UCI for what he said is sloppy procedure.
"The examination of therapeutic documents could have been done under better conditions by the agency if it had obtained the elements from the UCI," Bordry said. "Unless these documents were not actually in their possession."
On Monday, the UCI criticized the French anti-doping agency, saying it had asked it to refrain from publicly implying Pereiro was guilty of doping.
During the 2006 Tour, Landis tested positive for elevated ratios of testosterone to epitestosterone. If his appeal fails, Landis could be banned for two years. The American rider has denied doping and has said the French laboratory that handled his test is unreliable and made mistakes.
-
Thursday, January 25, 2007
(01-25) 08:30 PST PARIS, France (AP) --
France's anti-doping agency dropped its investigation Thursday of Tour de France runner-up Oscar Pereiro, saying the Spanish rider provided sufficient justification for use of an asthma medication.
The French newspaper Le Monde had reported Pereiro tested positive for salbutamol during the 2006 Tour.
Although the International Cycling Union said he had authorization to use the drug, the French anti-doping agency asked Pereiro to send medical justification. In a statement Thursday, its president, Pierre Bordry, said he had received a satisfactory explanation.
Pereiro will inherit the 2006 Tour title if winner Floyd Landis loses an appeal of his positive doping test.
"After a thorough examination of the documentation, the agency's doctors concluded that the dossiers conform," Bordry said in a statement. "The agency regrets that it took so long to obtain these."
The French anti-doping agency previously said it had sent Pereiro three requests since August for medical information to show that he needed salbutamol and that the UCI waiver was not hiding an attempt to cheat.
Bordry criticized the UCI for what he said is sloppy procedure.
"The examination of therapeutic documents could have been done under better conditions by the agency if it had obtained the elements from the UCI," Bordry said. "Unless these documents were not actually in their possession."
On Monday, the UCI criticized the French anti-doping agency, saying it had asked it to refrain from publicly implying Pereiro was guilty of doping.
During the 2006 Tour, Landis tested positive for elevated ratios of testosterone to epitestosterone. If his appeal fails, Landis could be banned for two years. The American rider has denied doping and has said the French laboratory that handled his test is unreliable and made mistakes.
