Manzano case dropped

Madrid judge María Antonia Torres Díez-Madroñero has dropped the case involving ex-Kelme rider Jesús Manzano due to lack of evidence. Manzano has been making serious doping allegations against his former team since Spring last year, and the Spanish Cycling Federation had transferred the case to court.

During the judge's investigation, former pros Pedro Diaz Lobato and Dario Gadeo gave evidence, as well as team manager Vincente Belda and the team's former doctors Walter Viru, Eufemiano Fuentes, Alfredo Cordova and Gerardo Villa. According to Spanish sports newspaper Marca, the case has been dropped because it had reached a dead end, where missing evidence made the case's documentation worthless. Mutual accusations were all that remained.

Manzano, meanwhile, maintains that systematic doping existed at Kelme, and has declared to Marca that he "knew this would happen. But I will continue to fight to get more people to testify. I will appeal the decision within the next six days."