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Lance: 'Dope' doctor reinstated
28/03/2006 15:17 - (SA)
Aigle, Switzerland - Cycling's world governing body has reinstated a staff member who gave copies of Lance Armstrong's doping control forms to a French newspaper.
Mario Zorzoli returned to his UCI post on Monday, seven months after the French sports daily L'Equipe used information he provided to allege that Armstrong had used EPO when he won the first of his seven Tour de France titles in 1999.
Zorzoli, a UCI doctor, had been suspended by the Swiss-based federation last month.
"Lance Armstrong said he has no problem with what happened because he says he has nothing to hide," UCI spokesperson Enrico Carpani said on Tuesday in explaining Zorzoli's reinstatement.
Zorzoli received numerous letters of support after his suspension, including one from Armstrong himself, Carpani said.
L'Equipe published evidence in August allegedly showing that six of Armstrong's urine samples from 1999 came back positive for the endurance-boosting hormone when they were retested last year.
Armstrong denied ever using banned drugs and said he was the victim of a "witch hunt."
Cycling did not test for EPO until 2001. Backup "B" samples from 1999 were frozen and tested for EPO in 2004. But the original "A" samples cannot be verified for confirmation.
- AP
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