Vacansoleil clears Bole of doping allegations

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Vacansoleil-DCM says that its internal investigation has cleared Grega Bole of any involvement in doping and that the Slovenian will be with the team as of January 1. Bole's name had arisen in the USADA's case against Lance Armstrong.

Bole, who was with Lampre from 2010 to 2012, was mentioned in a conversation between Leonardo Bertagnolli and Dr Ferrari, which is part of Bertagnolli's sworn statement to Italian police. According to a transcript, the two talked about Aicar, a product that works on muscular tissue and encourages the burning of fats. Bertagnolli said that it came from a Slovenian supplier and  the names of several Slovenians were mentioned, including Bole's.

"Bole, in front of our doctor, our lawyer, his manager and me underpinned his innocence by answering a few questions," team manger Daan Luijkx said in a statement released Monday morning. "He thereby denied having engaged in doping."

One important factor in the team's decision was “an analysis by an independent clinical chemist  of the profiles in Bole's biological passport” which revealed “nothing inappropriate.”

Another was a written statement from Bertagnolli, in which he “made ​​it clear that he is not aware of any involvement of Bole in use or distribution of drugs,” according to the team statement.  However, Luijkx said, "We have agreed that dismissal will follow if either Bole or Bertagnolli lied."