While the UCI has opened a doping case against Team Sky rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, his former manager Brian Smith has said that he believes Tiernan-Locke is fully innocent.

Brian Smith is manager for Team Netapp-Endura, the team where Tiernan-Locke drove in 2012 and it is his biological passport from that year, UCI is wondering about.

“It is frustrating for me. I know he is clean, he knows he is clean, his management knows that he is clean, Endura knows that he is clean, yet he has to go through all this,” Smith told VeloNation. “I feel sorry for him.”

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke had his breakthrough on the international scene in 2012 and was a part of the British national team for the World’s. But he never started the race. Tiernan-Locke abandoned from the race and several medias speculated that it was because of his biological passport.

UCI said afterwards that they would let their experts analyse his data, but nothing happened until the start of this weak. Brian Smith raises doubt about the correction of Tiernan-Locke’s biological passport from the Tour of Britain 2012.

“He never got blood tested during the Tour of Britain, it was all urine tests,” he said. “The only blood test while he was riding under Endura colours was when he agreed to go to Jonathan Vaughters [Team Garmin Sharp’s manager – ed.] to get tested. I think it was at the middle of March 2012. That has been documented and there were no irregularities. He [Vaughters] wanted to progress and try to sign him. Jon never got [blood] tested at all when he was with Endura at the Tour of Britain. So I don’t know the details on when this irregular blood test counted for. But it wasn’t while racing under Endura at that time.”