Posted at 6:49 a.m., Sunday, December 30, 2007
Cycling: Spain's Heras reportedly quits after 2-year ban
Associated Press
MADRID, Spain — Three-time Spanish Vuelta champion Roberto Heras has reportedly quit professional cycling after serving a two-year ban for doping.The 33-year-old Spaniard — whose doping ban ended in October — said he received offers from cycling teams. However, under the sport's code of ethics, he cannot join a ProTour team for two more years.
"I have thrown in the towel," Heras said in Saturday editions of the sports daily Marca.
The Liberty Seguros rider tested positive for EPO in the 2005 Spanish Vuelta, one of the top races in the European cycling season. Heras won the overall race for a fourth time before being stripped of the title. He denied using a performance-enhancing substance and blamed the result on a laboratory error.
Heras, a teammate of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Service club from 2001-03, said he only wanted to ride with a ProTour team.
"I still do not understand why ProTour teams cannot sign riders who have fulfilled the ban, like I did," Heras said.
