"For now, Roberto has all my support," the veteran sports director told the French newspaper L'Equipe.

"If, by misfortune, the second test were to be positive, the hardest would be to deal with the personal ties more than the material part of this."

"I have to be patient; three weeks is a long time. For now I am preoccupied by my rider and giving him all of my psychological support. I hope that on November 21 the innocence of Roberto will be proven.

"As for me, I will put myself on a limb to say that he has never cheated. I have confidence in Roberto."

The team's sponsor, Liberty-Seguros had a very different view on the current affair. "There is no solution," said financial manager Manuel Pinera to the Spanish daily El Pais on Tuesday. "As long as we have not strongly punished the rider, the medial team, the sports director, the manager all the way to the general director of teams, we will go nowhere.

"We have begun an in-depth investigation to find out everything that happened around this affair, but I doubt that it will get us anywhere."