A decision on whether or not the blood bags involved in the Operación Puerto case will be handed over to the sporting authorities is set to be made just after midday on Tuesday. According to Spanish newspaper El País, judge Alejandro María Benito will make the call that could end what has been a 10-year long case.
A total of 200 blood bags, belonging to some 35 athletes, were found in a raid of the house of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes in 2006. Following the end of the case against Fuentes in 2013, the court ruled that they would be destroyed. However, appeals were made by the UCI, the Spanish Sports’ Council and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
A judgement had been expected in January of this year but that was postponed. If the 2013 ruling is overturned, authorities may be able to identify the athletes involved but they may be restricted in the action that they can take due to the state of limitations.
A timeline of the Operación Puerto case can be found here.
Zakarin still hopeful of riding Tour de France
Ilnur Zakarin remains hopeful of making Katusha’s Tour de France squad despite his Giro d’Italia crash, according to Cyclingpro.net.
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Zakarin suffered a high-speed crash on the descent of the Colle dell’Agnello during stage 19. Initially, things looked very serious for the Russian, as he lay on the grass at the side of the road with his bike having travelled even further down the road. Despite this, Zakarin escaped with a broken collarbone and fractured scapula; he had been lying fifth in the overall classification.
Cyclingpro.net reports that he is back in training and his recovery has been progressing quickly enough to put him in contention for the nine-man squad.
Argentina confirms Rio line-up
Argentina has named the three riders that will represent them in the men’s road events at the Rio Olympic Games.
Tour de San Luis runner-up Eduardo Sepúlveda headlines the squad with two-time San Luis winner Daniel Diaz for support. Sprinter Maximiliano Richeze completes the line-up and is the only member of the team to have ridden an Olympics Games previously.
Sepúlveda finished second to Dayer Quintana at the Tour de Luis earlier this season but had his year disrupted with he was hit by a barrier at the finish of the Drôme Classic. He has since returned to competition at the Tour de Luxembourg earlier this month.
Lammertink fractures arm and rib in Tour de Suisse crash
Maurits Lammertink (Roompot – Oranje Peloton) has fractured his arm and broken a rib following a crash in the feed zone during stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse. The Dutch rider has also injured his hip and suffered a deep cut on his knee, according to his team.
It’s not clear how the accident occurred but the team states that it is likely to have happened when he collided with some traffic furniture. Lammertink was taken to hospital in Olten but will now be transferred to the University Clinic in Basel.
In contrast, Lammertink’s teammate Antwan Tolhoek moved into the lead of the mountains classification after making it into the day’s break.
