Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) attacked (Image credit: Sirotti)
The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) has officially rejected a request from the International Cycling Union (UCI) to re-open the Iban Mayo case, after the sport's world governing received a second opinion on the B sample taken from Mayo in the 2007 Tour de France. Mayo's A sample tested positive for EPO (Erythropoietin) shortly after the Tour last year, however results of his B sample, tested in the first instance by Belgium's national anti-doping lab in Gent last October returned an inconclusive result, clearing the rider of any wrong doing.
However the UCI, not convinced by the Gent lab's findings, sought a second opinion on the sample. It had the French Châtenay-Malabry lab, whose practices came under scrutiny after Floyd Landis' positive sample from the 2006 Tour, test the sample which returned a positive reading in mid-December.
RFEC, however, has stated that the second testing is illegal, describing it as being "in contrast to the principles of justice", and that re-opening the case would be double jeopardy.
"We wrote to the UCI on December 28 to inform them that the competition committee could not reopen [the Iban Mayo file]," explained Eugenio Bermudez, general secretary of the RFEC. "No one can be tried twice for the same facts ".
