The record books show that Roman Kreuziger claimed one win in 2015 but in truth his victory tally was double that, with his stage win at the US Pro Challenge nestling next to a dropped UCI case into his Biological Passport data.
An email from the UCI announcing the closure of a protracted doping case may not seem like a victory in the truest sense of the word but, given that Kreuziger’s job, reputation and livelihood were all on the line, there were few sweeter moments for the Czech rider this year.
Still, almost six months on from the UCI’s about-turn, Kreuziger says he is still none the wiser as to why the sport’s governing body dropped their charges just before a landmark date in court for both them and the Biological Passport.
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"It was a second victory in some ways but the most important was the one that came in the middle of June when I won my case. I won it, even if some don’t like to hear it, and that’s the truth,” Kreuziger told Cyclingnews at the World Championships.
“However, we never got a real explanation as to why [they dropped the case]. My lawyer, maybe he knows or maybe the president of the Czech committee, but I never got the reason why.”
Just to rewind, Kreuziger and the UCI had been through a drawn-out war over the rider’s Passport with the UCI President Brian Cookson telling Cyclingnews in August of 2014 that there were "very serious anomalies" in the Czech rider’s readings. Those readings dated back to Kreuziger’s time at Team Astana between March 2011 and August 2011, and from April 2012 through the end of the 2012 Giro d'Italia. Cookson also stated, at the time, that passport cases would therein be treated as positive tests, with subsequent provisional suspensions put in place.
However, Kreuziger was cleared by his national Federation last September and the UCI and WADA subsequently announced their intention to appeal the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A hearing was eventually fixed June of this year – only for cycling’s governing body to withdraw its appeal just days before their date in court.
In July Cookson told Cyclingnews that new information had been provided to the WADA experts analysing Kreuziger’s data and as such doubt could be added to the argument. He would not specify the information, only stating that, “an agreement was reached with the rider about the terms and conditions on how that would happen, and one of the conditions was that we wouldn’t comment any further.”
Kreuziger has since raced the Tour de France and a number of other races. With his season over he will turn his attention to 2016 and the aim of supporting Alberto Contador's bid to win a third Tour de France. The Czech rider will also be looking for his own chances in races but the public are still none the wiser as to why a rider the UCI were so keen to suspend has been cleared without a full explanation.
“I think that’s more of a question for the UCI and the public,” he says when asked about the topic and whether the UCI should apologise as well as hand out a fully-explained decision on the matter.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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