Cycling: Prosecutor Calls for Dropping of Millar Charges

The prosecutor in the Cofidis drugs trial in Paris yesterday recommended that charges be dropped against Britain's leading Tour de France rider David Millar but prison sentences, mainly suspended, were requested for the nine other defendants.

Jacques Hossaert said that Millar had "brought interesting facts to light" and that charges should not be upheld because, even though the Scot admitted to having used the blood-booster erythropoietin in 2001 and 2003, it could not be established whether he had used the hormone in France or Spain. In this area French law applies only where the offence has been committed within the country.

Millar confessed, during a period of detention in June 2004, to using the drug and was banned from racing for two years. Like the nine other former Cofidis members and their associates on trial this week, he faced charges under France's anti-drug laws. The 29-year-old returned to racing in June.

Hossaert recommended a prison sentence of four to six months for the masseur at the centre of the inquiry, Boguslaw Madejak, and a suspended sentence of six to 12 months plus a €3,000 fine (£2,000) for a Parisian pharmacist, Pierre Ben Yamin, suspected of supplying drugs.

Suspended sentences of between three and six months and no fines were recommended for the other defendants, six cyclists and a team manager. The trial is due to end today and sentences will be announced in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile the Italian Ivan Basso announced that he will attempt the double of Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2007. Basso will ride next season for Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team for an annual salary estimated at €1.4m.