By Susan Westemeyer
Jan Ullrich's attorneys allegedly tried to reach a deal with the prosecuting attorneys in Bonn, Germany, offering to pay a fine in exchange for having the investigation closed, the German news magazine Focus has reported. The deal was rejected, according to the press agency dpa.
The German investigators want to compare Ullrich's DNA with the DNA in blood bags taken into custody during the Operación Puerto. The blood bags are expected to be delivered soon. The Spanish court has also announced that it will turn over to the UCI documents concerning the riders named in the case.
However, it is expected that the court will announced on Monday that the charges against Fuentes and the others named in the case will be dismissed, putting into question the availability of the blood bags and other evidence.
In the event that the evidence cannot be used in further proceedings against the riders, Ullrich's manager Wolfgang Strohband wouldn't dismiss the possibility that the recently retired German might return to the peloton. "He knows nothing about the developments in Spain," Strohband told BILD magazine. "So I can't say anything about Jan's renouncing his retirement. Anything is possible..."
