New Doping Scandal in Cycling: Manolo Sainz

As I was saying yesterday, if it's a doping scandal, it has to be either athletics or cycling. And, if yesterday it was about 800m former silver medalist in the Olympics Hezekiel Sepeng, today we talk about one of the best known cycling managers in world cycling. His name is Manolo Sainz.

No, he didn't use any banned substances - why would he (?), since he's not the one competing - but is accused of supplying these kinds of substances to his athletes. Currently director of Liberty Seguros cycling team, Sainz is being under investigation along with his team's doctors, concerning the doping scandal that surfaced a couple of months ago.

Then, one of the best cyclists in the world, spaniard Roberto Heras, received the news that he is to be banned from all cycling competitions for 2 years, after testing positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in a doping test. It certainly didn't bring any smiles to Heras' face, since the former teammate of Lance Armstrong was aiming for a victory in the Tour de France - now that the American retired - and a 4th win in his country's tour, La Vuelta.

Ever since that scandal took place, the police have been investigating the circumstances in which the Spaniard had used EPO. And, finally, the results led to the doctors and, consequently, to the team manager, Manolo Sainz. The team officials have yet to issue an official statement, after saying to the media that they couldn't reach their team director for the moment.

This measure comes as a consequence of the anti-doping line imposed by the Spanish judiciary system, which announced that any sportsman that uses banned substances or is supplied with them will be facing criminal charges from now on.