All defendants in the Mantova case that involves the Lampre team, including manager Giuseppe Saronni and rider Alessandro Ballan, have been acquitted. Only two people from the team have been convicted.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Mantova court has refused prosecutor Antonino Condorelli's indictment and acquitted all the accused "because the crime does not exist" or "the action is not a crime" except pharmacist Guido Nigrelli and an amateur cyclist who have been been handed eight-month and four-month sentences respectively.
Conderelli had claimed that there was organized doping at Lampre because there was "direct evidence" that linked the Italian team with an alleged organized doping system.
Of the 28 people involved in the case, including 16 riders from Lampre, 13 individuals faced charges ranging from 12 to 28 months in prison. Saronni and Ballan for whom Condorelli had requested two years in prison, are not the only ones to have been acquitted. Sports directors Fabrizio Bontempi and Maurizio Piovani, doctor José Ibarguren, coach Sergio Gelati and ridersDamiano Cunego, Mauro Santambrogio, Mauro Da Dalto, Mirco Lorenzetto, Michael Rasmussen, Marzio Bruseghin, Pietro Caucchioli, Simone Ponzi, Massimiliano Mori, Manuele Mori, Paolo Bossoni, Marco Bandiera and Francesco Gavazzi can all make a sigh of relief too.
The Matova trial started in 2014 although the investigation began in 2008.
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