B sample clears Mayo of EPO charge

Full story: via Velonews

By Agence France Presse
Filed: October 22, 2007

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 could have been suspended for two years if his B sample had proved positive.

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

He finished 16th 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 Mayo 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. He was later cleared by the UCI, which decided he had not breached any doping rules.