2007 Tour de France doping case dismissed in France

The criminal investigation launched after police searches during the 2007 Tour de France has been dismissed. Public prosecutor Jean-Christophe Muller in Pau confirmed today that there will finally be no hearing for Alexander Vinokourov, Iban Mayo and Christian Moreni in their respective cases.

French police had searched the hotel rooms of the three riders on July 24 and 25, thereby opening the investigation.Vinokourov had tested positive for a homologous blood transfusion on July 21 and left the Tour on the second rest day. Mayo returned a positive doping sample for EPO on July 24 and Moreni, together with his whole team, left the Tour following a testosterone positive on stage 11.

Since then, the public investigator sent three international letters to the International Cycling Union, but according to them the UCI never complied to the request of handing over the riders' positive doping samples needed to continue the case. According to Sudouest.fr, the governing body of cycling based its refusal upon the confidentiality of these "personal medical elements".