Ullrich and Basso were excluded from the 2006 Tour de France

The pair missed the Tour after being implicated when police raids in Spain discovered steroids and stored blood.

"This case took place because of a lack of fair play to say the least," said Judge Antonio Serrano.

"But there was no law that penalised doping under Spanish legislation at the time this case was begun."

Sport has become a branch of industry where it is judged by profitability and has lost much of its original function in transmitting moral values such as fair play Judge Antonio Serrano

Operation Puerto was launched last May, and the Spanish Civil Guard compiled a list of more than 50 cyclists who were implicated, including former Tour winner Ullrich, and four-time Tour of Spain winner Roberto Heras.

Laws relating to doping were only introduced in Spain this February, and as the alleged offences had taken place earlier, the judge said there was nothing he could do.

The judge was critical of the state of professional sport, saying it had "become a branch of industry where it is judged by profitability and has lost much of its original function in transmitting moral values such as fair play."

He also said there was no proof that practices such as blood doping were a serious threat to the health of the cyclists involved.

"The fact that the blood to be injected belonged to the person themselves minimised the risk," he said.

"The medications involved were not out of date nor had they deteriorated nor were they administered outside medical control.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."