USA Today · Jun 14, 2016
Spain court orders Operation Puerto blood bags released
MADRID (AP) — A court was set to rule Tuesday on whether hundreds of blood bags that are key evidence in one of Spain's worst doping scandals should be destroyed or handed over to authorities for investigation.
The announcement comes 10 years after Operation Puerto revealed a doping network involving some of the world's top cyclists when police seized coded blood bags from the Madrid clinic of sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
More than 50 cyclists were originally linked to the case. Among those eventually suspended were former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, Spanish Vuelta champion Alejandro Valverde and Ivan Basso, who later confirmed that his blood was among the frozen samples found.