Lawyers acting on behalf of former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich claimed Wednesday that blood seized in a Spanish doping scandal and linked to the former German cycling star were not in themselves proof of doping.

On Tuesday, prosecutors in Bonn announced that DNA tests on blood seized in the offices of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes last year confirmed that nine bags of the 200 confiscated were Ullrich’s.

"If all that is evoked is confirmed then all that has been found is theblood of our client in Spain, but that does not in itself mean that doping took place. We are a long way off being charged with fraud," lawyer Peter-Michael Diestel, told the German news channel N24. "My blood is also all over the place: I have a doctor in Rostock, another in Berlin and another I don't know where yet," said Diestel, a specialist in defending sportsmen and coaches accused of doping in Germany.

Prosecutors in Bonn, meanwhile, dismissed earlier allegations by Ullrich's legal team that the blood might have been tampered with. "There is no sign of manipulation," said investigating prosecutor Friedrich Apostel.

Apostel pointed out that he was still awaiting an official response from Ullrich's lawyers.

"I'm very hopeful that the preliminary investigation in this case can be concluded between now and the end of the year," said Apostel.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported in its Thursday edition that the head of the sport committee of the German parliament, Peter Danckert, wants to meet "all the people concerned in the case, employees and doctors” in special hearing next month.