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Pereiro cleared

Tour de France runner-up Oscar Pereiro is among a group of 10 riders cleared of doping charges, the president of France’s anti-doping agency, Pierre Bordry, announced Thursday.

The cases were thrown after it was confirmed the riders had official medical clearances to use certain banned substances. Records leaked to the media last week indicate Pereiro had tested positive for salbutamol, a banned substance often prescribed for asthma sufferers, after the 14th and 16th stages of last year's Tour.

Pereiro quickly responded that he that he had been issued a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for the drug by the medical commission of the Union Cycliste Internationale and that he had merely forgotten to send the relevant documents to French anti-doping authorities.

The case has considerable more meaning in light of the fact that Tour winner Floyd Landis faces the possibility of being stripped of his title for testing positive for an elevated testosterone/epitestosterone ratio, following his remarkable comeback on Stage 17 of the race. Subsequent tests results suggest the presence of exogenous testosterone in Landis's samples. If he is ultimately stripped of the title, Pereiro will be credited with the overall win.

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