Top cyclists Alexandre Vinokourov, Iban Mayo and Cristian Moreni have escaped criminal charges in relation to breaking doping laws during the 2007 Tour de France, it was announced by the public prosecutor on Thursday. Police launched a probe following the 2007 edition of the race, during which Kazakh star Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping. Mayo, who spent the bulk of his career with Euskaltel, tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) while Moreni, formerly of Cofidis, revealed excess levels of the male hormone testosterone.
A police investigation was launched after the cyclists’ hotels were raided by police on July 24 and 25, 2007 during the race’s second rest day in Pau. However in the absence of evidence, and the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) refusal to hand over blood or urine samples that would prove they had broken French law, residing judge Celine Pages-Couderc had no option but to clear all three riders of any wrongdoing, according to the public prosecutor for Pau, Jean-Christophe Muller.
Despite being in possession of three warrants to investigate the riders, Pages-Couderc “was unable to obtain any of the samples” taken from the riders from the UCI, Muller told AFP.
