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Wednesday's Eurofile: Landaluze wins testosterone case; Ullrich won't do Bremer Six
The international sporting world's top appeals court on Wednesday rejected the UCI's bid to overturn a decision by the Spanish cycling federation to acquit rider Iñigo Landaluze on a doping charge.
The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) said in a statement that it rejected the UCI's appeal in the Landaluze case, which involved flaws in the dope testing procedure carried out by the internationally-accredited French laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry.
The Euskaltel cyclist was found to have high testosterone levels in tests made during the 2005 Dauphine Libéré stage race which he went on to win.
However, the Spanish federation ruled in May that the testing procedure did not meet legal standards so he could not be sanctioned.
CAS said its own panel found "that the non-compliance with this standard constituted a procedural flaw serious enough to cause the invalidation of the anti-doping test."
The court said the technician in France involved in analyzing the B sample was also involved in analysis of the A sample, in violation of the international standards for accredited laboratories.
“With respect to the issue related to the analysis procedure conducted by the laboratory of Châtenay-Malabry, the Panel has dismissed all arguments raised by the athlete, except one,” the CAS panel concluded. “It has been indeed established that the person who conducted the analysis of the B sample was also involved in analysis of the A sample, thus in violation of the international standard applicable to the accredited laboratories. The Panel considered that the violation of this technical direction was likely to affect the results of the analyses. The Panel has considered that the non-compliance with this standard constituted a procedural flaw serious enough to cause the invalidation of the anti-doping test.
The three-member panel rejected other arguments invoked by Landaluze relating to the analysis procedure.
The CAS panel also unanimously concluded that although the Spanish cyclist owed his acquittal to the flaw, it did not consider the decision to be a complete exoneration.
“The arbitrators have emphasized that the staff of the laboratory of Châtenay-Malabry had acted in good faith and that the overlap of the different analysis operations performed by the staff was due to a heavy workload in the laboratory,” the decision noted. “The arbitrators have also specified that even though Iñigo Landaluze benefited from this flawed procedure to be acquitted, the CAS decision does not constitute a declaration of his innocence.”
The same French laboratory has also been at the centre of allegations of flawed testing procedures over Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, who tested positive for testosterone on his way to victory during the race this year.
Ullrich takes a pass on Six-Day
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, who has not raced since being implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal, has turned down the chance to make his comeback in the Bremer Six-Day, his manager Wolfgang Strohband said Wednesday.
Patrick Sercu, the organizer for the Sechstagerennen in Bremen, which runs from January 11-16, had said Ullrich would be more than welcome to attend but the German has not returned the interest.
"Jan needs a specific time to prepare for a race," said Strohband.
The 33-year-old Ullrich was fired by T-Mobile in July following accusations that he was involved in doping with controversial Spanish physician Eufemio Fuentes.
Ullrich, who won the Tour de France in 1997, has fought the accusations and vowed to ride again although he has yet to find a team for next season.
