Botero cleared

ByEurosport

Published 02/10/2006 at 10:51 GMT

The Colombian Cycling Federation has cleared Santiago Botero of contravening doping regulations after the Phonak rider was named in the massive Operacion Puerto doping probe in Spain, just a few weeks before the start of the Tour de France.

CYCLING 2005 Phonak Botero

Image credit: Imago

Federation president Ettore Sangiovanni said in the Colombian press: "His file has been analysed in depth, but we have found nothing against Santiago Botero. All is based on suppositions only."

The Phonak trio of Botero, Jose Enrique and Ignacio Gutierrez were suspended at the start of June after being named as a client of doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the main suspect in the affair.

The UCI recently transferred all its files concerning Operacion Puerto to the relevant national federations.

Cycling