Spain to pay Roberto Heras €720,000 for overturned doping ban

Roberto Heras, is to receive over €720,000 in damages from the Spanish state following the reversal of his two-year ban from 2006 to 2008, reports The Local. Spain's national court in Madrid said the amount corresponded to what he could have expected to earn during the period of his suspension.

Heras tested positive for EPO shortly after winning the 2005 Vuelta a Espana. He retired after being handed a two-year ban, but it was subsequently overturned on a technicality. Heras successfully argued that correct procedures had not been followed in the storage and testing of his sample, which had been taken on the penultimate day of the race.

The judge ruled the Spanish state was responsible and that Heras was due €724,904.86 in compensation.

Heras was reinstated as the 2005 Vuelta champion (instead of Denis Menchov) meaning he again has four wins in that race on his palmares.

His first victory came in 2000 when he rode with Kelme-Costa Blanca and his second came in 2003, following a move to US Postal. His fourth and fifth wins, while riding for Liberty Seguros, came in 2004 and 2005, meaning he also won three in a row.

As well as being the only four-time Vuelta winner, Heras has also competed in the Brompton World Championships at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. He won the 2009 edition of the event after finishing second the previous year.