[JRogers]

Basso officially cleared in Operación Puerto

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/oct06/oct27news4

 

[reflux]

The Spanish really jacked up this one, didn't they? Or...do you think he's truly clean? I vote the former.

 

[JRogers]

Could be either way....I mean, none of us really have the details, right? Then again, without an positive tests, finding proof or evidence could be very difficult...

 

[DRB]

It sounds like they are all cleared. Too many siestas I guess.

 

[Westy]

The Spanish really jacked up this one, didn't they? Or...do you think he's truly clean? I vote the former.

I don't know about that, they'll probably end up with a spaniard winning the '06 tour.

 

[Jeremy R]

If they are all being cleared, how come none of them are super pissed off that they were even charged?
If I put in the hours of training that someone like Basso or "THE JAN" did for the Tour, and got kicked out but never charged, I would be lighting fires.
To quote my dementia riddled 89 year old grandfather, "I smell something $hitty going on here."

 

[splat]

If they are all being cleared, how come none of them are super pissed off that they were even charged?
If I put in the hours of training that someone like Basso or "THE JAN" did for the Tour, and got kicked out but never charged, I would be lighting fires.

That is part of the Big problem with WADA they can Make these claims against a rider , have them suspeneded,thrown out of races ,slandered in the papers etc ,etc . but when it is shown that they have no proof , or shody techniques , or even a which hunt with no basis other than a Hunch or hersay. They just say "opps I'm sorry go about you buisness .... " with no penalties.

 

[DRB]

In the wake of the news that the Spanish federation had been forced to drop proceedings against riders implicated in Operación Puerto and that investigation has also been shelved against Italian Ivan Basso, the UCI has reaffirmed that this does not mean that the riders have automatically been cleared of the charges against them.
A ruling by the Spanish court on October 7 prevented the Spanish federation from using court documents to open up cases against riders named in the investigation until such time as the court determined exactly what happened. There is a chance that other federations may follow suit.

It is expected that the trial will not be concluded until the middle of next year, raising the possibility that the result of the case will be known before or during the Tour de France. Should it be proven that there is substance behind the charges that Dr Eufemiano Fuentes ran a doping network involving cyclists and other sports people, it is likely that the UCI will instruct federations to once again open disciplinary proceedings against the riders in question.

Speaking to Cyclingnews on Saturday, UCI President Pat McQuaid explained how the current twist evolved in the long-running saga. "The situation with Manolo, with Basso and with the Spanish riders as well is all down to the current state of affairs with Operación Puerto," he said. "I can quite easily understand how the License Commission were unable take away Manolo’s license. They couldn't use the information that we had supplied to them due to the fact that the Spanish authorities have blocked us using those details.

If I'm reading this doesn't mean everyone involved is cleared. It means that the Spanish courts said you can't use any of this until for any investigations or punishments until they are done until the civil authorities are done with their investigations, court cases and subsequent punishments. Guess when they think they might be done? That's right Tour time.

This is all very confusing because a number of riders were "cleared" after review of the documents. But it seems that there maybe the ones that have been cleared and the ones that they just haven't gotten around to. And coupled with the following...

Spanish judge Maria Luisa Alvarez will soon hear a lieutenant of the Civil Guard about alleged public document falsification in the doping affair around Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, revealed by the military institution last spring. The Unidad Central Operativa (UCO) official will be heard on November 29, after the court admitted to the proceedings a claim presented by Manolo Saiz against Rafael Blanco, director of the Sport Superior Council (CSD) about prevarication and document falsification on August 13.

The former director and manager of Liberty Seguros-Würth is legally represented by Carlos Bueren, who argues that the Astana ProTour team could not participate in the Tour of France and is on the verge of losing its ProTour license because of the alleged irregularities in the investigation documents. Saiz's legal defense says that the information sent to the UCI does not correspond exactly to the deposited information in the court, with one folio presumably appearing without signature and with suppressed paragraphs.

In addition, they were supposedly forwarded without the authorization of the judge in charge: On June 29 (two days before the beginning of the Tour of France), the Spanish Civil Guard presumably transferred a report on the doping scandal to the Sport Superior Council. That day, the mentioned document was also sent to the Spanish Federation, which in turn transferred it to the UCI. The governing body of the sport then insisted on the supposed implication of the Astana team on the grounds of the ethical code signed by the ProTour teams.

Who knows what documents say what. So that a cleared rider's name might pop back up in some copy of a document that was altered, not passed along or lord knows whatelse.

 

[splat]

How come reading that just makes it sound more and More like

Chapman: *I* don't know - Mr Wentworth just told me to come in here and say that there was trouble at the mill, that's all - I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition.

[JARRING CHORD]

[The door flies open and Cardinal Ximinez of Spain [Palin] enters, flanked by two junior cardinals. Cardinal Biggles [Jones] has goggles pushed over his forehead. Cardinal Fang [Gilliam] is just Cardinal Fang]

Ximinez: NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Guess when they think they might be done? That's right Tour time.

I'd have to call Bullsh!t if the spanish authorities starts faxing Puerto documents right before the tour begins. It'd be too much of a coincidence... TDF ruined by spanish documents, 2 of the biggest contenders (not implicated) are from spain and riding for a spanish team... then all the news hapens to die down right before the next Grand Tour... which is hosted by Spain... and all this 2 years in a row.