Former world road race champion Alessandro Ballan is set to make a return to competition following an announcement by his BMC Racing team.
The Italian was sidelined due to a doping enquiry but, according to the squad, there doesn’t appear to be weight to the claims.
“The BMC Racing Team has concluded its internal investigation regarding rider Alessandro Ballan,” it announced.
“The BMC Racing Team could not find indications that Alessandro Ballan was involved in any doping in connection with his former team, Lampre. Alessandro Ballan has fully cooperated with the Italian authority and has provided the investigation authority with all requested information and even more.
“Apart of that, no sporting authority has opened a proceeding against Alessandro Ballan so far. Given all these aspects, the BMC Team has no reason at all to not respect the presumption of innocence and will no longer withhold Alessandro Ballan from competition.”
It did not state in which event he would return but, presumably, it will hope that he can take part in the Tour de France this July. If so, he will select a racing programme which will allow him to regain condition in time.
In early April La Gazzetta Dello Sport broke the news that a major anti-doping investigation was taking place in the town of Mariana Mantovana in Northern Italy. It said that current and former riders with the Lampre squad, as well as team officials, are amongst those being scrutinised for their links with the coach Guido Nigrelli.
Apart from current and past riders, the team’s general manager Giuseppe Saronni plus the sports directors Maurizio Piovani and Fabrizio Bontempi were also set to face questioning.
“I have received notification of a request to extend the preliminary investigation by six months,” said Ballan at the time. “I have put everything in the hands of my lawyer.”
The investigation is led by Antonino Condorelli plus the other prosectors of Mantua, and has been ongoing for almost two years. It relates to the period between 1 January 2008 to July 31, 2009, although some of the investigations go beyond this timeframe.
Ballan will be keen to resume racing and to show his new team what he can do.