Moletta cleared, but without team
By Gregor Brown The doping case against Italian cyclist Andrea Moletta was shelved last☂ week by...
By Gregor Brown
The doping case against Italian cyclist Andrea Moletta was shelved last week by Padova prosecutor Claudio Marassi, but the rider from Cittadella now faces a difficult team search. The Gerolsteiner rider, 29, was suspended in May when his father was questioned about Viagra tablets and other subs♉tances.
"Everything is okay. I heard the news last Tuesday," Moletta told Cyclingnews. "It was a very difficult period for mꦿe. To be accused of something that you don't know anything about is terrible."
Team Gerolsteiner pulled Moletta from the Giro d'Italia and placed him after Italian Guardia Finanza stopp♈ed his father and questioned him about the Viagra tablets and unidentified fluids. Both father and son of or particip💮ation in any doping.
His last race was in th💝e Giro stage to Urbino on May 20, but Gerolsteiner con🦩tinues to pay him through the end of 2008 when the team is due to disband. (Read: )
Moletta🥀 has continued to train with locals Filippo Pozzato, Alessandro Ballan and Davide Rebellin while his lawyer Fabio Pavone helped the case move through the justice system. Now that the 🔯case has been shelved, he can safely look for a 2009 team.
"The problem is to find a꧙ new team - th🍃ere is not a lot of money around," he said. "It would be hard to find a team even if I have not done anything, but, you know, once someone says something you are viewed wrongly."
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His best mate and former Gerolsteiner rider Rebellin will likely go to Team Diquigiovanni, a team that already boasts Gilberto Simoni. Moletta admওitted the budget on the team is limited with two big stars.
"The problem is to find a team and someone who believes in me," he⭕ said. "I have put out 🌺my requests, but no one has called."