August 24, 2006 – After mountain biker José Hermida has been ordered back from the MTB world championships in New Zealand by his national federation prematurely, his team “Multivan-Merida” now demands a comprehensive look in the Operacion Puerto files that are supposed to be relating vaguely to the rider. So far, neither sufficient reasons nor any proof has been given for José Hermida’s suspension. Neither the team nor the UCI have received any informations on this matter. For this reason, legal measures have been taken to ensure a look in the files.

The affected José Hermida has demanded this look from the start and moreover has been asked by his team’s management emphatically to do his utmost to participate actively in the clearing up of this matter.

As long as the Multivan Merida Biking Team has no additional information on José Hermida’s suspension at hand, the team sees no need to act at the moment. Still, the team’s management stresses its zero-tolerance strategy regarding doping offences.