BMC clears Santambrogio to race
BMC Racing’s Mauro Santambrogio has the green light to return to competition after a preliminary internal investigation found no evidence that he was involved in doping at his former team, Lampre.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
BMC Racing’s Mauro Santambrogio has the green light to return to competition after a preliminary internal investigation found no indication that he was involved in doping at his former team, Lampre.
“Hence, the BMC Racing Team will no longer withhold Mauro Santambrogio from competition. We are pleased that the findings from our own investigation and that of the police have turned up no evidence of wrongdoing by Mauro Santambrogio,” said BMC Racing Team president Jim Ochowicz in a statement on the team’s website.
BMC suspended Santambrogio and former world champion Alessandro Ballan on April 9, withdrawing the latter from Paris-Roubaix, after the two were named in connection with an investigation of the 35 riders, staff and doctors connected to a local pharmacist, Guido Nigrelli, who is based in Mariana Mantovana in Northern Italy.
Ochowicz’s statement did not mention Ballan.
The Italian sports daily La Gazzetta Dello Sport has reported that investigators are reviewing records involving Ballan, Damiano Cunego, Lampre manager Giuseppe Saronni and others. Cunego, who is still a member of Lampre, has denied any involvement in doping.
Prosecutor Antonio Condorelli explained that the process was more about the trade in doping substances rather than the use of them, and added that professional cycling had only a secondary role in the network.