Spanish court overturns five-year-old Roberto Heras suspension

Roberto Heras, one-time teammate of Lance Armstrong at US Postal, has had a two-year suspension for EPO – handed down in 2006 – overturned by a Spanish court. The Spaniard tested positive at the end of the 2005 Vuelta a Espana while racing for Liberty Seguros. He went on to win that Vuelta, his fourth, but was stripped of the title, which went to runner-up Denis Menchov. Heras now reclaims that win.

Heras retired from professional cycling after his two-year suspension but returned to race the Ruta de los Conquistadores in 2008 and 2009. He also won a Brompton folding bike “world championship” in 2009.

Heras’s initial appeal of the suspension, based on the contention that his samples from the Vuelta were stored incorrectly and not analyzed anonymously, was unsuccessful. This week the Administrative Division of the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y Leon in Valladolid overturned the suspension and returned all the wins stripped from Heras.

Denis Menchov’s Grand Tour wins are now the 2007 Vuelta and the 2009 Giro d’Italia.