By Antonio J. Salmerón
Spanish State's Sport Secretary, Jaime Lissavetzky, who recently designed and managed to pass an anti-doping law, wished today during an anti-doping conference in Santander, northern Spain, that the next Tour de France, "will relaunch clean cycling," because, he warned, the tough situation in cycling "no longer permits just patches."
Lissavetzky was accompanied at the university conference by ex-cyclist Dori Ruano, now a politician, and assistant publishing director, Juan Mora, who has been very critical about people supposedly implied in the Operación Puerto. According to EFE, the state secretary recognized that the reaction of the Tour de France organisers following the investigation of the Spanish Guardia Civil was supposed to be "an incentive” for the sport, but soon was overshadowed by the shocking news of Tour winner Floyd Landis testing positive for testosterone.
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"This has caused a negative image for the cycling. An agreement among people of the cycling world would be necessary, because cycling is a wonderful sport and what everybody wants is that cycling starts from zero," Lissavetzky argued.
Lissavetzky added that "the Tour de France organisers must play a very important role in this, because it is the best race in the world." In regards to Operación Puerto, the instructional judge considered the assumptions about doping not criminal in Spain, yet the Spanish government has some objections to closing the case.
"It will be necessary to see an Operación Puerto resolution, but it will take time," he concluded.
