Yesterday Lampre-Merida manager Giuseppe Saronni, Alessandro Ballan and several other former Lampre-Merida riders were acquitted in the long-running Mantova investigation into possible organized doping in the Italian team. Only pharmacist Guido Nigrelli who is at the centre of the case and an amateur cyclist have to go to prison for the involvement in the case which has seen Alessandro Ballan get suspended from competition.

Lampre-Merida have issued the following announcement in relation to the case:

"Team LAMPRE-MERIDA acknowledge, with great satisfaction, the full discharge of verdict which was declared this morning at the Mantova Court, a trial lasting almost six years against some of the team’s members.

The management of the team and Giuseppe Saronni who has been completely acquitted and cleared from any charges, would like to underline the impartiality of the verdict and would like to thank:
–          the lawyers Federico and Marco Cecconi and their consultants
–          the present and former colleagues and employers who shared this delicate period, some of them seeing there job being put at risk
–          everybody who supported and put there trust in the team and the people who were involved in the trial: partners, supporters and sponsors and, in particular, the Lampre company and the Galbusera family, who deserve the biggest thank for the warm and true support and trust in every moment

They received the gratitude for the intellectual honesty and the support which was given during the troubled time which finally has come to show the truth, thanks to the activity of the civil jurisdiction, and been brought to an happy and long awaited end.

The Mantova Court does justice to a team which have operated in cycling for almost a quarter of century, vanishing the senseless and reiterated attempts of manipulation of the facts which threatened the acticity of the team in the World Tour.

Giuseppe Saronni and the team management wish all the team’s members a merry Christmas holiday in a happier and more cheerful way than in the past and encourage them to look forward with the best purposes and with even more trust in their qualities for the future.