LA MONGIE, France — Lance Armstrong's teammate and another rider were cleared to race in the Tour de France on Friday despite their involvement in a case of suspected doping, a cycling official told The Associated Press.
The Council of Professional Cycling settled a dispute between Tour organizers and cycling's governing body on whether Pavel Padrnos of Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team and Italy's Stefano Zanini of Quick Step-Davitamon could continue to race.
Padrnos and Zanini have been called to appear in October in a case involving suspected doping in the 2001 Tour of Italy.
The UCI, the sport's ruling body, believed they should not be thrown out while Tour organizers disagreed. The CPC ruled in favor of the UCI, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The council is made up of team and UCI representatives and race organizers.
On Monday, Tour organizers barred riders Stefano Casagranda and Martin Hvastija because they are under investigation in a doping investigation in Italy.
Tour organizers said before this year's race that any riders involved or implicated in police or judicial doping investigations would be barred. Following that line, they asked UCI to exclude the riders, Tour president Patrice Clerc said.
But the UCI had contended that Zanini's case already had been dealt with and Padrnos' case was not a problem with doping.
"The UCI believes that Zanini's case has already been dealt with from a sporting point of view, because in this affair he already drew a suspension," Clerc said.
U.S. Postal spokesman Jogi Mueller had said there was "absolutely no case to expel" Padrnos.
The decision came on a day when the three-week Tour de France enters the Pyrenees.
Entering the stage, Padrnos was 100th overall among the 167 riders still in the race. Armstrong has been relying on the Czech as a support rider in the Texan's bid for a record sixth straight Tour victory. Zanini was 126th in the overall standings.
Associated Press Writer John Leicester contributed to this report.