Feb
12
2 former cyclists deny Puerto court DNA access
Filed Under EN
MADRID (AP) — Two former cyclists on Tuesday turned down requests to have their DNA analyzed to see if any of the blood bags seized by Spanish police as evidence in the Operation Puerto doping trial could be linked to them.
Isidro Nozal, a 35-year-old former rider with the ONCE, Astana and Karpin-Galicia teams, refused to give the court permission to analyze his DNA.
“No, I don’t want to,” he said. “I don’t see why I should have to.”
Joseba Beloki, a 39-year-old former racer with ONCE and Liberty, also declined, saying he would have to think about it.
The riders were among four former Spanish professionals giving evidence under cross-examination on Tuesday.
Only Nozal acknowledged ever having received treatment from Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor at the center of the Puerto case.
Fuentes is the key figure and one of five defendants in the case, which stems from a police raid in 2006 that uncovered blood bags and other doping equipment and implicated many of the world’s top cyclists.
No riders are on trial because doping was not illegal in Spain at the time and the court is limited legally to trying Fuentes and his co-defendants, which include his sister Yolanda, of endangering public health.
Beloki said he was willingly collaborating with the case, although he had been subpoenaed to appear as a witness. He has denied any links with Fuentes.
“But if you ask me if I give my permission to have the blood bags analyzed, I would have to think about it,” he told the court via a video link.
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