Bikeradar - The world is for riding

Mayo cleared by Spanish cycling fed

Spain's Iban Mayo. (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

The Spanish cycling federation on Monday cleared Spanish cyclist Iban Mayo, who tested positive for doping during the 2007 Tour de France, after a second test proved negative, his lawyer and the federation said.

The federation informed Mayo "that the B sample had come out negative and for this reason it had ended" its inquiry, Mayo's lawyer Jose Rodriguez told AFP.

The cycling federation confirmed the news and said there had been a mistake with the first sample.

Mayo, a specialist climber, tested positive for blood-booster EPO during the Tour on July 24 and would have been suspended for a minimum of two years if his B sample had proved positive.

Mayo was quoted by the online edition of sports daily Marca as saying that he had gone through a bad period but "everything has turned out as I expected."

He finished in 16th place in the Tour. His team, Saunier Duval, suspended him without pay while it awaited the results of the test on his B sample.

It is not the first time that he has been implicated in a doping case.

In June he was suspected of having failed a test for testosterone, the banned male sex hormone, during the Giro d'Italia but was later cleared by the International Cycling Union which ruled he had not breached any doping rules.

© BikeRadar & AFP 2007

• Back to top
• Email to a friend