Spanish Judge Antonio Serrano may have put the criminal case known as Operation Puerto to rest on Monday, setting aside the case that’s dragged many names through the mud because there was no law in Spain at the time of the arrests that the accused had broken.

In his ruling, Serrano noted that it appeared that some doping may have occurred, but since doping became a criminal offence in Spain only last month, the defendants could not be prosecuted under the new law. According to an article in Eurosport, Judge Serrano said there was no proof that Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes’s treatment of professional cyclists endangered the public health.

“The fact that the blood to be injected belonged to the person themselves minimised the risk,” Serrano ruled. “The medications involved were not out of date nor had they deteriorated nor were they administered outside medical control. The conclusion is that the events cannot be considered to be criminal according to the law in operation at the time.”

Many have voiced their disappointment with the outcome, among them British cyclist David Millar. “It’s a shame the process has been handled so badly. If there was nothing concrete the judge shouldn’t have allowed [the case] to be opened,” Millar told sports daily Marca.

Indeed. It is a shame how the case has been handled, especially for the innocent riders whose reputations have been sullied by the allegations and whose careers have been damaged or ruined. While some of the riders implicated may be guilty of doping, the whole affair could have been handled much differently in order to protect both the riders’ rights and the integrity of the whole process. In the future, when people look up Operation Puerto in the encyclopaedia, they will no doubt find a cross-reference to “farce.”

Former pro Jesus Manzano already believes that is the case, but for different reasons: “It’s a farce. No one can tell me that, for example, a growth hormone that increases the risk of cancer, isn’t a danger to the public health,” he said. Manolo Saiz, the former directeur sportif of the defunct Liberty Seguros cycling team, who was questioned by the Spanish Civil Guard during the case said: “There has been a lot of collateral damage from this investigation.” That would be an understatement.