Gonzalez expects to be cleared

Euskaltel's Aitor Gonzalez expects to be cleared of any wrongdoing after testing positive for an anabolic substance during the last Vuelta a España. Although the analysis of the B sample has not been finalised, Gonzalez' manager Angel Buenache and lawyer Luis Sanz will defend their man by arguing the "tainted supplement" defense.

"Now we can affirm that Aitor is innocent," said Buenache to Marca. "The investigations that we have authorised have finish and confirm his innocence. We worked with two laboratories from Barcelona and with noted specialists from Valencia and we can show that the metabolite that appeared in his urine was due to a product, allowed by the authorities, that was contaminated. It's even stranger that the metabolite doesn't serve to improve performance in cycling, but the opposite, since it blocks the muscle. Therefore it is obvious that it wasn't deliberate."

Buenache wouldn't name the allegedly contaminated product, although Marca speculated that it was 'Animal Pak', 6,000 units of which were found to be contaminated after being seized in March this year.