Manuel Piñera, president and majority stock holder of the firm that manages the Liberty Seguros cycling team, has resigned in apparent reaction to the Roberto Heras doping scandal.

"I'm leaving because there are things I do not agree with and that I cannot change even though I am president of the team," Piñera told Spain’s sports daily AS on Tuesday.

Piñera is currently the largest shareholder in Active Bay, the management company that runs the Liberty squad, but in addition to his resignation, he said he plans to sell his shares to team directors Manolo Saiz and Pablo Anton.

Piñera predicted that despite his resignation, the team’s main sponsor – the U.S.-based Liberty insurance company – would continue to support the team.

"I'm sure the sponsorship of the team will continue," he said. "I'm convinced that we have the best squad of riders in the world."

Spanish cycling was rocked after confirmation that Heras tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO in samples taken in the penultimate stage of the 2005 Vuelta a España. The win, had it not been revoked as a result of the positive, would have been Heras’s fourth Vuelta victory and a record at the Spanish national tour.

Heras has promised that he will fight "to the end" to prove his innocence of charges that he used EPO to win the 2005 Vuelta.

"I am not thinking of retirement, but to fight to the end to demonstrate my innocence," Heras said in a Madrid press conference following news of the second test. "This result never entered my head. I am convinced that the testing method doesn't provide the necessary guarantees. There have been a lot of previous errors and in my judgment, it's not trustworthy."

Heras's legal team has already indicated they will fight the doping charge in the Spanish cycling federation as well as the Court of Arbitration of Sport. Heras's lawyers also said they will consider defending their client in a civil suit, taking the case beyond the established sports appeals process.

But Piñera said that he has been disheartened by events and wants to focus his energies elsewhere.