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When Lance Armstrong was banned for life in August 2012 for doping to win his seven Tours de France between 1999 and 2005, most casual observers would have assumed cycling’s well-documented doping problems were, if not solved, then at least cleared up somewhat. But that sordid story did not start with Armstrong nor did it end with him.
A change in leadership of the world governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI) in autumn 2013 brought a new president, Brian Cookson, and an apparently fresh desire to investigate those figures – Armstrong and others – who contributed to cycling’s dark and hidden past. The investigatory body is the CIRC, or Cycling Independent Reform Commission, a three-man group that has the potential to produce one of the most seismic sporting stories of 2015 – or one of its most expensive flops.
Some of cycling’s biggest and longest-suspected names could finally walk out of the shadows and confess. The slate may finally be wiped clean. Painful though it may be, a catharsis could usher in a new era of transparency and accountability, directed by a global governing body. In sport, that would be nothing short of astonishing – and something from which FIFA, the IAAF and others might well learn.
But in a worst-case scenario, the ‘omerta’ – cycling’s code of silence that the Commission hopes to destroy – will be reinforced, and the UCI may end up with little new information and egg on its face. In a special investigation for Sportingintelligence, TEDDY CUTLER explores what we can expect from a report that has the potential to rock cycling’s boat – and finally prove the sport is making concerted efforts to confront the spectres of its past.
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By Teddy Cutler
31 December 2014
Among the many promises of greater transparency that Brian Cookson made at the start of his term as UCI President, the creation of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) stood out.
The idea is not a new one – in fact it has been wafting around in cycling for a good few years. Originally it was called ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ – which gives you a much better idea of what CIRC wants to achieve.
At the end of February 2015, CIRC will hand over a report to the UCI detailing the findings of an investigation into doping practices in professional cycling between 1 January 1998 and 3 December 2013.
During that time, there were only four clean Tour de France winners, or to be more precise, riders who have remained free of any confirmed doping up to now: Carlos Sastre in 2008, Cadel Evans in 2011, Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and Chris Froome in 2013. That means the winners of the other 12 Tours de France in that period were dopers, including the most notorious, seven-times winner Armstrong and the late Marco Pantani.
There can be no doubt that professional road cycling was, for a long time, propelled by drugs. Quite possibly a majority of riders in the Grand Tours had used performance-enhancing substances at some point. In attempting to quantify this, and to provide a snapshot at least, Sportingintelligence has analysed the career details of every rider finishing in the top 10 in the Tour De France in the years being considered under the CIRC remit.
The result is expected but shocking nonetheless. Cycling has been around 65 per cent ‘dirty’. Perhaps less, but probably more.
Also considered in this study are other key riders away from those top 10s in the sport’s most prestigious race, as well doctors and team personnel who have been involved in the sport, and the findings are in the poster below and in the long and detailed appendix at the foot of this piece.
In the 16 TdF races from 1998-2013 inclusive, the 160 top-10 places were filled by 81 different riders, and 31 of them (or 38 per cent) are confirmed dopers who have already been officially sanctioned by some body or other for their doping. These include Armstrong and some other major names and they are marked in red on our ‘Cycle of Suspicion’ graphic.
A further eight riders are known dopers who have never been sanctioned – and they are purple – and a further 14 riders on top are blue, denoting riders who are linked to doping or strongly suspected of doping but have not been proved to be so, definitely, yet.
Together, these three groups make up 65 per cent of the riders who finished in the top ten of the Tour de France in the 16 years under consideration. It would be a surprise in the fullness of time if it transpired that cycling was ‘only’ 65 per cent murky in the EPO era.
Bobby Julich (a former Team Sky employee), Michael Boogerd and Axel Merckx are all ‘purples’ as they have never been sanctioned for their doping offences. Michael Rogers, a ‘blue’ and another former Sky employee, has onerous links to doping but has never been suspended for his association with the notorious ‘doping doctor’ Michele Ferrari. Rogers’ ban for a positive Clenbuterol test in 2013 was only a provisional suspension, so does not count for the purposes of our graphic. Likewise, Damiano Cunego, a fomer Giro D’Italia winner among 27 names in Italian court documents linked to doping, has been associated closely with doping, but nothing has ever stuck.
One of the key but lesser-known ‘blue’ names on our graphic is that of Max Sciandri, who was British Cycling’s Academy Director from 2004 to 2010. During his career as a rider he was a client of the notorious sports doctor Luigi Cecchini – a contemporary of Michele Ferrari’s at the University of Ferrara. In 2006, Sciandri put David Millar, returning from his two-year ban for EPO use, in contact with Cecchini. Sciandri, who now works as an assistant director at the BMC team, was also one of 51 names indicted in the ‘Blitz Raids‘ of the 2001 Giro d’Italia. He has never served a ban.
Of the 81 ‘top 10′ riders, just 28, or 35 per cent, remain unblemished, yet, and it’s little surprise that 20 of those 28 come from the Tours between 2010 and 2013; it is generally older riders who have been unmasked by the passage of time and retrospective testing of their samples.
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The Commission, then, is an attempt by Cookson and the UCI to finally lay to rest many of the most malevolent ghosts of cycling’s recent past. It’s a noble idea – and an expensive one, too, as the sport’s governing body has funded it to the tune of upwards of €3 million (£2.35m / $3.65m). If it provokes and entices some of the sport’s shadier names out of the darkness, it will have been a success – and it will be one of 2015’s biggest sports stories. If few significant figures come forward, however, it will be a costly failure and an embarrassment for a governing body that can ill afford to lower itself further in the public eye.
There are some key factors to bear in mind about CIRC – factors which impinge heavily on its potential success. Most importantly, it works on a voluntary basis – the Commission has no power to force anyone to come forward. Why, then, would anyone choose to talk to these three men – Dr Dick Marty, the president, and Peter Nicholson and Professor Ulrich Haas, his colleagues.
Well, we know for certain that major figures from the last 15 years of cycling have come forward to speak. And, as per the regulations set out in the CIRC remit (PDF of the terms of reference in full here), a rider who admits to the use or possession of prohibited substances or methods or whereabouts failures would receive a ban of six months – far less than they would were they to be sanctioned for the same offence by the UCI. So there is an incentive to come clean – although WADA and the UCI need to agree on sanctions as CIRC can only recommend them.
Armstrong has met with the Commission twice, for a total of seven hours – in the hope that the life ban he received in 2012 might be reduced, as Cookson hinted at in May. Any such reduction would, however, depend on the agreement of USADA, the UCI and WADA. Armstrong getting a reduced ban in itself would be a major story; one of dozens potentially to emerge from this process.
If a rider or team official chooses not to come forward and evidence then appears in the future that links them to doping, the punishments will be severe – up to an eight-year ban.
That’s the carrot – the incentive to tell the Commission what you know. Where the CIRC may fall down is firstly in its aforementioned lack of real power to punish – and secondly because a normal eight-year statute of limitations will apply, so any offence committed before 2006 will be unsanctionable anyway. However, the UCI would have the power to withhold a licence and thus ban the rider or team official from competition.
The outcome of the process is certain to be polarising, and indeed already is.
Riccardo Ricco is a disgraced Italian professional banned for 12 years in 2012. Among several scandals, he admitted to taking EPO, was rushed to hospital after an alleged botched blood transfusion, and was accused by Italian police in May of buying EPO and testosterone in the car park of a McDonald’s burger restaurant near Livorno.
As Cycling News have reported, Ricco has alleged the CIRC process to be flawed because it did not end with his own assistance getting him a reduced ban. ”I got in touch with the CIRC and went to Lausanne to speak to them early this year,” he said. “I paid my own way to go there. I told them everything I knew; I gave them names of doctors, directeur sportifs and riders who are still involved in the sport. I was led to believe I’d get a 50% cut in my ban because I want to make a comeback as a professional rider. But any reduction was stopped by the Italians. The whole thing was a joke. It seems the rules are applied and interpreted depending on who you are.”
Ricco went looking for a reduction in his ban and found the CIRC powerless to help him in the face of his national anti-doping organisation. But if he has told the Commission as much as he says he has, it will make very interesting reading indeed. He is but one person among dozens, perhaps hundreds, to have spoken to the CIRC.
Some riders have already had their bans reduced: Mauro Santambrogio, for instance, who tested positive for EPO during the final week of the 2013 Giro d’Italia became the first Italian to confess to the CIRC in June 2014, bringing a potential four-year ban down to 18 months.
Cookson and the UCI would most like to see one group of people come forward to divulge to the CIRC – those with red, purple or blue dots on our ‘Cycle of Suspicion’ graphic with an asterisk also next to the names, denoting they are still active in cycling and are either proven to be dopers or are suspected of it.
Alexander Vinokourov is significantly one of these, being the current general manager of the controversial Astana team; he tested positive for a blood transfusion in 2007. Cookson has called the Kazakh out, saying: “I have encouraged anyone, including Alexander Vinokourov, to speak to the reform commission,” he said. “It’s important that anyone who has had problems in the past, and wants to continue to work in the sport in the future, comes to the reform commission.”
In this case, the prospect of a ban is unlikely and of little importance – Vinokourov has already served a ban from 2007 to 2009. What is more important would be what he reveals about the current Astana team, who have been hit by a rash of positive doping tests this autumn. Those include the EPO positives of the brothers Maxim and Valentin Iglinskiy, both of whom tested positive for EPO this year. Astana have encouraged both to come forward to the CIRC – indicating that its timescale remains fluid.
Now take a look at the US Postal/Discovery Channel wheel on our graphic. One of the key names is Viatcheslav Ekimov – one of Armstrong’s most loyal lieutenants who is now manager of Katusha, the Russian cycling team. Ekimov is named in Floyd Landis’s qui tam whistleblower lawsuit as one of the US Postal riders who received a blood transfusion midway through the 2004 Tour de France. If that information were corroborated by another rider speaking to the CIRC, it would not result in a ban – it happened outside the statute of limitations. But Ekimov’s position as Katusha general manager would come under serious pressure, and the UCI could strip him of his licence.
No neutral observer looking at Ekimov’s past believes has had a drug-free career. Indeed as Tyler Hamilton described in his acclaimed tell-all book ‘The Secret Race‘, Ekimov is alleged to have scoffed as police carried out drugs raids during the Festina affair during the 1998 Tour de France. In the passage below, Hamilton describes Ekimov joking he was considering diving into the team toilet to recover flushed doping products.
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The CIRC seems to be the UCI’s way of offering an olive branch to riders who escaped sanction in the past. In addition to Vinokourov, Cookson has reached out to Bjarne Riis – the Dane who won the 1996 Tour de France but later admitted to performance-enhancing drug use throughout his career.
The CIRC has no power to ban Riis – even if it could mete out sanctions, his career as a rider ended way back in 2000. But Riis went on to enjoy a second career, as a team manager – much like Vinokourov. And Tyler Hamilton, who rode under him at CSC, accused him of openly encouraging doping among his charges. If Hamilton has spoken to the Commission, its publication has the potential to make life profoundly uncomfortable for Riis, now team manager at Tinkoff-Saxo, the evolution of CSC.
Moving across to the Team Sky wheel, and the situation is much the same. Bobby Julich, Chris Froome’s coach throughout 2011, cannot be sanctioned for his admitted use of EPO during the 1998 Tour de France – an admission that caused him to leave Sky. Far more interesting to us and to the commission is his time as a rider at CSC from 2004 to 2008 – and his spells as coach at BMC, Sky and now, from the 2015 season onwards, at Tinkoff-Saxo.
He will be joined there, working under Bjarne Riis and with the star rider Alberto Contador who has served his own ban for doping, by Sean Yates, who himself left Sky in the autumn of 2012 as Sky reiterated they wanted no employees with any doping past. Neither Sky nor Yates ever admitted he had any doping past. Yates rode alongside Armstrong at Motorola before becoming his Directeur Sportif at Discovery Channel and then Astana. He has worked with Bjarne Riis before, too, at CSC in 2003-04. Despite working closely with Armstrong for six years, Yates told the BBC in 2012 he had never seen anything suspicious. If the CIRC has done its job, the credibility of such statements will be tested at least.
The success of the CIRC report, which will be delivered to and published by the UCI, lies almost entirely in the quantity and identity of those who come forward and the quality of the information they proffer. We are unlikely to see a scenario whereby teams are decimated by the sudden suspensions of hordes of riders and assorted personnel – not least because many have already served their bans. What we may gain, however, is a greater amount of light shone on the careers of who have escaped censure.
Professional cycling is a small world – most people involved in it know each other, many have worked at the same big teams, so word spreads quickly. For proof of this, consider the breadth of the client list of many of the doctors listed both on our graphic and in the appendix to this piece.
It should be hard to keep secrets in cycling, yet the ‘omerta’ – the code of silence – has meant that for the past 20 years, the culture of doping has remained hidden. The CIRC is by no means perfect – unlike USADA, for instance, it does not have the ability to run around issuing subpoenas like parking tickets. Yet it stands perhaps the best chance the sport of cycling has ever had to smash the omerta if not for good then at least for a generation.
Of course, it’s not just riders and team managers – this is the UCI’s attempt at investigating itself, too, for 15 years during many of which it appeared to bury the reality of doping under a thick rug. It remains to be seen whether either of Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid, Cookson’s two predecessors have volunteered to speak to the CIRC.
The UCI wants us to believe this is an honest attempt at clearing up a messy trail of crumbs stretching back 15 years. For that to be the case, the CIRC must have nailed at least one of the big names, still floating in the professional cycling universe, unpunished, yet.
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APPENDIX
Riders of interest connected particularly with … US Postal/Discovery Channel
Lance Armstrong (USA, 43, seven-time TdF winner 1999-2005): (Motorola 1992-96; Cofidis 1997; US Postal-Discovery 1998-2005; Astana 2009; Radioshack 2010-11). Armstrong overcame cancer to become the most successful Tour de France rider of all time, winning the event seven years in succession. After years of investigation into doping practices at Postal, the publication of a 2012 report the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) stripped him of these, as well as his 3rd place in the 2009 TdF, and banned him from cycling for life. USADA cycling investigation and archive of materials HERE
Tyler Hamilton (USA, 43): (US Postal 1996-2001; CSC 2002-03; Phonak 2004; Tinkoff Credit Systems 2007). In 2011, Hamilton returned his 2004 Athens gold medal for the time trial to USADA. His affidavit describes how he doped at US Postal and continued at CSC, where he was a client of Eufemiano Fuentes and implicated in Operacion Puerto. Hamilton tested positive for the second time in 2004 during the 2004 Vuelta while riding for Phonak. A third positive in 2009 ended his career. PDF of Hamilton’s affidavit to USADA, here.
Levi Leipheimer (USA, 41): (US Postal 2000-01; Rabobank 2002-04; Gerolsteiner 2005-06; Astana 2008-09; Radioshack 2010-11). In Leipheimer’s affidavit to the USADA investigation headed by Travis Tygart, he describes how he used EPO before joining US Postal, and how when at the team he was instructed to use Actovegin. He continued to use EPO at Rabobank – there is a redacted name in the affidavit believed to be Geert Leinders – and at Gerolsteiner. PDF of Leipheimer’s affidavit to USADA, here.
Jose Azevedo (Portugal, 41): (ONCE 2001-03; US Postal/Discovery 2004-06). Azevedo, a key lieutenant for Armstrong at US Postal for two years is one of the only figures from that team never to have had any confirmed doping history – either at Postal or with ONCE, his previous team. Technically the winner of the 2002 Tour de France if all the ‘dirty’ riders finishing above his 6th place are discounted.
Floyd Landis (USA, 39): (US Postal 2002-04; Phonak 2005-06). Landis was leading the 2006 Tour de France, riding for Phonak, when he tested positive for testosterone. In 2010, Landis triggered Armstrong’s downfall by admitting to doping throughout his career, also implicating Johan Bruyneel.
Christian Vande Velde (USA, 38): (US Postal 1998-2003; Liberty Seguros 2004; CSC 2005-07; Garmin 2008-13). Vande Velde’s affidavit as part of the ‘Reasoned Decision’ against Lance Armstrong describes how he first doped during the 1999 Tour de France using testosterone. He began EPO doping with Michele Ferrari in late 2000. He maintains that since 2006 he has not used any banned substances, in a period in which he achieved his best ever TdF result (4th). PDF of Vande Velde’s affidavit to USADA, here.
Kevin Livingston (USA, 41): (Motorola 1995-96; Cofidis 1997-98; US Postal 1999-2000; Telekom 2001-02). Following the 2013 publication of the French Anti-Doping report into the 1998 and 1999 Tours de France, Livingston was found to have tested positive for EPO during each. He never testified in USADA’s ‘Reasoned Decision’ and works today out of Lance Armstrong’s ‘Mellow Johnny’ bike shop in Austin, Texas, as a coach.
Roberto Heras (Spain, 40): (Kelme 1997-2000; US Postal 2001-03; Liberty-Seguros/Astana 2004-06). Heras enjoyed his greatest success at the Vuelta a Espana, winning it four times. The 4th time, in 2005, he tested positive for EPO and was stripped of the title but later acquitted and reinstated as winner.
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine, 34): (Discovery Channel 2005-07; 2008 Lotto; 2009 Astana; 2010-2014 Radioshack/Trek). In 2010, police searched Popvych’s home in Tuscany, allegedly finding banned substances. This was denied by the rider’s lawyer. Popovych was issued with a subpoena in 2010 as part of the Lance Armstrong investigation. He denied ever seeing doping take place.
Tom Danielson (USA, 36): (Fassa Bortolo 2004; Discovery Channel 2005-07; Garmin 2008-14). Danielson’s affidavit as part of the USADA ‘Reasoned Decision’ against Lance Armstrong describes how he was introduced to Michele Ferrari while at Fassa Bortolo in 2004. Ferrari contacted Johan Bruyneel and got Danielson a place at Discovery Channel. While there, he witnessed Michael Barry doping. PDF of Danielson’s affidavit to USADA.
Jurgen van den Broeck (Belgium, 31): (US Postal/Discovery Channel 2004-06; Lotto 2007-14). Van den Broeck, who was third in the 2010 Tour de France and fourth in 2012 has never been formally linked or charged with doping but was forced to answer questions in 2013 about visits he made to Chris Mertens, a Belgian doctor specialising in Ozone blood treatment. Van den Broeck claimed he had visited the doctor because of a sinus problem.
Jonathan Vaughters (USA, 41): (US Postal 1998/99; Credit Agricole 2000-02 as team manager Garmin 2007-14). Vaughters admitted in 2012 to doping during his time at US Postal. His affidavit was a part of the ‘Reasoned Decision’ against Lance Armstrong. Following his career, he went on to establish the Garmin team with a ‘clean’ ethos. PDF of Vaughters’ affidavit to USADA.
Viatcheslav Ekimov (Russia, 48): (Rabobank 1996; US Postal 1997-98; US Postal/Discovery 2000-2006 as DS/team manager Astana 2008-09; Radioshack 2010-11; Katusha 2012-14). Ekimov was upgraded to 2004 Olympic time trial gold after Tyler Hamilton gave back his own gold for doping. One of the most loyal of all Lance Armstrong’s lieutenants, Ekimov has never given evidence against Armstrong nor been definitively nailed down himself as a doper. In 2011, he called Tyler Hamilton a ‘liar’ for his allegations of doping on the US Postal team. His name comes up again in Floyd Landis’ whistleblower case, where Ekimov is identified as one of the US Postal riders to have received a blood transfusion midway through the 2004 Tour de France.
Matt White (Australia, 40): (US Postal 2001-03; Cofidis 2004-05; Discovery Channel 2006-07 as Directeur Sportif Garmin 2008-10; Orica GreenEdge 2012-14). White first tested positive in 1998 for Salbutamol when riding for the Italian team Amore e Vita. In October 2012, White admitted to having doped while at US Postal. His name does not feature in the ‘reasoned decision’ but is thought to be the sworn testimonies provided to USADA. Then, in 2011 White was sacked from his role at Garmin after sending a young professional, Trent Lowe, who also rode for Discovery Channel, to Luis Garcia del Moral.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Liberty Seguros/Astana
Alberto Contador (Spain, 31): (ONCE 2003; Liberty-Seguros/Astana 2004-10; Saxo Bank/Saxo-Tinkoff 2011-14). Two-times winner of the TdF. Three-times winner of the Vuelta. Won the Grio in 2008. Contador was one of the active riders named in 2006 in connection with Operacion Puerto. He later received a judicial clearance. On the final rest day of the 2010 Tour de France, a race he won, Contador tested positive for Clenbuterol, which he said came from eating contaminated beef. Traces of plasticizers were also found. He was stripped of the 2010 yellow jersey and banned for two years.
Vincenzo Nibali (Italy, 30): (Liquigas 2006-12; Astana 2013-14). Winner of the Vuelta 2010, Giro 2013 and TdF in 2014. Nibali has had to answer repeated questions about his purported involvement with Michele Ferrari. He faced claims he worked with Ferrari first after coming seventh in the 2009 Tour de France. Nibali sued sports director Ivan Fanini for making the claims.
Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic, 28): (Liquigas 2006-10; Astana 2011-12; Saxo-Tinkoff/Tinkoff-Saxo 2013-14). In May 2014, an investigation was begun into Kreuziger for bio-passport irregularities dating back to 2011 and 2012, when he was riding with Astana. He was first contacted on the eve of the 2013 Tour de France by the UCI about the irregularities. His case is ongoing.
Alexander Vinokourov (Kazakhstan, 41): (Telekom/T-Mobile 2000-05; Liberty Seguros/Astana 2006-12 As manager: (Astana 2012-present). Winner of the Vuelta 2006. Olympic road race gold 2012. Vinokourov, a Kazakh national hero has one doping infraction against his name: in 2007, when he failed a test for a blood transfusion midway through that year’s Tour de France, causing his Astana team to withdraw from the race. He had been criticised by then-UCI president Pat McQuaid for his association with Michele Ferrari.
Chris Horner (USA, 43): (Francaise des Jeux 1997-99; Saunier-Duval 2005; Lotto 2006-07; Astana 2008-09; Radioshack 2010-13; Lampre 2014). Vuelta winner 2013. In 2013, Horner became the oldest man ever to win a Grand Tour when he took the Vuelta a Espana. He has never been charged with a doping infraction but has frequently had to deny that he is the redacted name for ‘Rider 15’ in Levi Leipheimer’s affidavit to USADA.
Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia, 30): (Discovery Channel 2005-07; Astana 2008-09; Radioshack 2010-11; Astana 2012-14). Brajkovic, ninth in the 2012 Tour de France has never been involved in any doping investigation.
Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan, 33): (Astana 2007-14). Iglinskiy, winner of the 2012 Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day race tested positive for EPO on August 1 2014, having been part of Vincenzo Nibali’s Tour-winning team. News of his positive test came three weeks after his brother, Valentin.
Valentin Iglinsky (Kazakhstan, 30): (Astana 2010-12, 2014; AG2R 2013). Valentin Iglinskiy tested positive for EPO around Stage 1 of the 2014 ENECO Tour. He was sacked by Astana and the team auto-suspended under the guidelines of the MPCC (Movement for Credible Cycling). The two Iglinskiy brothers were also encouraged by team officials to come forward to the CIRC.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Telekom/T-Mobile
Jan Ullrich (Germany, 40): (Telekom 1994-2002; Bianchi-Coast 2003; T-Mobile 2004-2007). Winner of the 1997 Tour de France. Ullrich, one of Germany’s most successful ever cyclists, has long had a laundry list of doping accusations attached to his name and in 2013 finally admitted to blood doping. Ullrich was a client of Eufemiano Fuentes, the Madrid-based gynaecologist turned doping doctor and was suspended by T-Mobile for his involvement. Retroactive testing showed he used EPO during the 1998 Tour de France.
Andreas Kloden (Germany, 39): (Telekom/T-Mobile 1999-2006; Astana 2007-09; Radioshack 2010-13). In an investigation into the relationship between T-Mobile and the Freiburg university clinic, Kloden was one of the names alleged to have obtained EPO via team doctors Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich.
Santiago Botero (Colombia, 42): (Kelme 1996-2002; Telekom/T-Mobile 2003-04; Phonak 2005-06; Rock Racing 2008). World champion time trial gold 2002. Botero was suspended by Kelme for six months in 1999 for elevated testosterone levels. Botero was cleared three weeks later by none other than Eufemiano Fuentes, who said his levels were natural. That’s important, because while at Phonak Botero was named as a Fuentes client in Operacion Puerto. He was suspended by Phonak but later cleared of involvement by the Colombian cycling federation.
Bernhard Kohl (Austria, 32): (Rabobank 2003-04; T-Mobile 2005-06; Gerolsteiner 2007-08). Kohl tested positive for CERA (third-generation EPO) during the 2008 Tour de France. In 2009, Kohl detailed his doping practices and claimed the entire top 10 of the 2008 Tour de France was on EPO. He retired after receiving a lifetime ban.
Oscar Sevilla (Spain, 38): (Kelme 1998-2003; Phonak 2004; T-Mobile 2005-06; Rock Racing 2008-09). Runner-up 2001 Vuelta. Sevilla was suspended by T-Mobile just prior to the 2006 Tour de France after being named as a client of Eufemiano Fuentes. Sevilla stored blood bags with Fuentes.
Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg, 36): (Fassa Bortolo 2001-05; T-Mobile 2006-07; Columbia 2008-09; Katusha 2010). Kirchen was never connected with any doping scandal. His career ended in 2010 after he was forced to undergo emergency heart surgery.
Jorg Jaksche (Germany, 38): (Telekom 1999-2000; ONCE 2001-03; CSC 2004; Liberty Seguros/Astana 2005-06). Jaksche was a client of Eufemiano Fuentes, with his blood bag given the nickname ‘Bella’. After the Operacion Puerto raids of May 2006, he was prevented from starting the 2006 Tour de France. He has frequently been open about his and others’ doping practices with the media and cycling authorities.
Bjarne Riis (Denmark, 50): (Telekom 1996-2000; as manager CSC/Saxo Bank/Saxo Tinkoff/Tinkoff Saxo 2004-14). Winner of the 1996 Tour de France. Riis won the Tour de France in 1996 riding with Telekom, but in 2007 admitted to drug use throughout his career, including the year he won the Tour. He later became manager of CSC. Tyler Hamilton, who rode for CSC under Riis accused him of openly encouraging doping amongst his riders.
Patrik Sinkewitz (Germany, 34): (Mapei 2001; Quikctsep 2003-05; T-Mobile 2006-07). Sinkewitz’s positive test for testosterone in 2007 precipitated the fall of T-Mobile. The Freiburg Report describes how Sinkewitz first started blood doping with Lothar Henrich in 2006, and how on July 2 2006 he was driven from France to the Freiburg Clinic where Schmid and Heinrich worked to receive a blood transfusion.
Erik Zabel (Germany, 44): (Telekom/T-Mobile 1993-2005; Milram 2006-08). Zabel, commonly considered Germany’s greatest-ever sprinter and one of the world’s best of all time, first confessed to EPO use in 2007, admitting that he had used the drug during the first week of the 1996 Tour de France. In 2013, he made a second confession, this time admitting that he had doped multiple times between 1996 and 2003.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Team Sky
Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain, 34): (Cofidis 2006-07; Columbia 2008; Garmin 2009; Sky 2010-2014). Winner of the 2012 Tour de France and London Olympics time trial gold medal winner, 2012. Wiggins, the first British rider to ever win the Tour de France has never been connected with a doping scandal. In 2007 he thought about retirement after his Cofidis squad were forced to withdraw from the Tour de France due to Cristian Moreni’s positive test.
Chris Froome (Britain, 29): (Barloworld 2008-09; Sky 2010-14). Winner of the 2013 Tour de France and London Olympics time trial bronze medal winner, 2012. Froome, who finished runner-up in the 2012 Tour de France before winning the race in 2013 has never been connected to a doping investigation both during his time at Barloworld and Sky. Has used multiple doctors to treat a variety of ailments to jump-start his career since 2011.
Leopold Konig (Czech Republic, 27): (NetApp Endura 2011-14; Sky 2015-16). Konig, who will join Sky for the 2015 season having finished seventh in the 2014 Tour de France has never been implicated in doping.
Michael Rogers (Australia, 34): (2000-02 Mapei; 2003-05 Quickstep; 2006-07 T-Mobile; 2000-10 Columbia; 2011-12 Sky; 2013-2015 Tinkoff –Saxo). Three-times UCI world TT champion (2003, 04 and 05). In October 2013, Rogers tested positive for Clenbuterol after winning the Japan Cup. The UCI accepted his claim it had come from eating contaminated meat. Rogers admitted to working with Michele Ferrari and, according to disgraced teammate Patrik Sinkewitz, may have stored blood at the Freiburg University clinic.
Bobby Julich (USA, 42): (As rider: Motorola 1995-96; Cofidis 1997-99; Credit Agricole 2000-01; Telekom 2002-03; CSC 2004-08 As coach: Saxo Bank 2009-10; Sky 2010-12; BMC 2013-14; Tinkoff-Saxo 2015). Third in the 1998 Tour de France and promoted to the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics time trial after compatriot Tyler Hamilton gave back his gold. Julich left Sky in October 2012 as part of their newly-implemented ‘zero tolerance policy’ after admitting to EPO use from 1996 to 1998, whilst at Motorola and Cofidis.
Servais Knaven (Netherlands, 43): (TVM 1993-99; Quickstep 2003-06; T-Mobile 2007-08; as Directeur Sportif 2011-14 Team Sky ). Knaven was a rider on the TVM team during the 1998 Tour de France that was the subject of a report handled by a judge in Reims. Every member of the TVM team from the 1998 Tour tested positive for banned substances. Knaven has escaped censure and now works as a team official at Sky.
Sean Yates (Great Britain, 54): (Motorola 1992-96; as Directeur Sportif CSC 2003-04; Discovery Channel 2005-07; Astana 2008-09; Sky 2010-12, Tinkoff-Saxo 2015-). Yates tested positive for testosterone in 1989, but extra samples tested showed no drugs and he was not sanctioned. The most interesting part of his career concerns his time as a DS. Yates worked with Bjarne Riis at CSC and was a mentor to Lance Armstrong as a rider at Motorola before becoming his DS at Discovery Channel and then Astana. He left Sky in the autumn of 2012 after the implementation of the ‘zero tolerance’ policy, but never publicly admitting to doping. He will team up again with Bjarne Riis and Alberto Contador in 2015, joining Bobby Julich at Tinkoff-Saxo.
Steven de Jongh (The Netherlands): (TVM 1995-99; Rabobank 2000-2005; Quick Step 2006-09; as directeur sportif Sky 2010-12; Saxo-Tinkoff 2013). De Jongh was a member of the TVM team that appeared before a judge in Reims in August 1998 charged with doping offences. He, like his colleague from that team Servais Knaven, later joined Team Sky as a sports director. In October 2012, he was forced to leave the team after admitting to a doping violation in his past.
Dario Cioni (Italy, 39): (Mapei 2000-02; Fassa Bortolo 2003-04; Liquigas 2005-06; Lotto 2007-08; Sky 2010-11; as directeur sportif Sky 2012-14). Dario Cioni recorded a haematocrit level of above 50% prior to the 2004 World Championships. He appealed and was granted an exemption on the grounds that he had a naturally high haematocrit. He continues to work for Team Sky to this day.
Michael Barry (Canada, 38): (US Postal/Discover 2002-06; T-Mobile 2007; Sky 2010-12). In his affidavit as part of the USADA ‘Reasoned Decision’ against Lance Armstrong, Michael Barry describes how George Hincapie first suggested the idea of doping to him on a training ride in 2003. He began doping with EPO in 2003 and on one occasion used Human Growth Hormone. He left Sky in 2012 after the implementation of the ‘zero tolerance policy’, having already admitted his doping in the affidavit.
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Britain, 30): (Sky 2013; Endura 2012). In 2014, Tiernan-Locke was banned for two years and fired by Sky for bio-passport irregularities dating back to September 2012. A claim that binge-drinking caused his irregular drug test result was rejected.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … CSC/Saxo Bank/Saxo Tinkoff/Tinkoff Saxo
Carlos Sastre (Spain, 39): (ONCE 1998-2001; CSC 2002-08). Winner of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre has never been associated with doping, despite riding at ONCE and under Bjarne Riis at CSC for the majority of his career. Asked about Tyler Hamilton, he said: “If you had the chance to jump over a bridge, would you do it? I did not go over the bridge.”
Andy Schleck (Luxembourg, 29): (CSC/Saxo Bank 2004-10; Leopard Trek/Radioshack/Trek Factory Racing 2011-14). Belated winner of the 2012 Tour de France. Schleck came second in the 2010 Tour but was bumped to first following Alberto Contador’s disqualification. He has never been connected to a doping investigation and retired in 2014 at just 29.
Frank Schleck (Luxembourg, 34): (CSC 2002-10; Leopard Trek/Radioshack/Trek Factory Racing 2012-14). Schleck, 3rd in the 2011 Tour de France has a history of doping connections. In 2008 he admitted making a payment to Eufemiano Fuentes back in 2006. Following stage 13 of the 2012 Tour de France, Schleck tested positive for Xipamide and was given a one-year ban.
Ivan Basso (Italy, 36): (Fassa Bortolo, 2001-03; CSC 2004-06; Discovery Channel 2007; Liquigas/Cannondale 2009-14; Tinkoff-Saxo 2015). Winner of the Giro, 2006, 2010. Ivan Basso admitted involvement in Operacion Puerto in 2007. He claimed he had only intended to dope but had not actually gone through with it. The scandal saw him released from his Discovery channel contract and gave him a two-year ban.
Andrea Peron (Italy, 43): (Motorola 1995-96; Francaise des Jeux 1997-98; ONCE 1999; Fassa Bortolo 2000-01; CSC 2002-06). Peron’s name has only ever been connected to doping once: in the Blitz Raids of 2001, when Italian police stormed the 2001 Giro d’Italia and found banned substances at team hotels including atb the Fassa Bortolo hotel for which Peron was riding at the time.
Max Sciandri (Britain, 47): (Motorola 1996; Francaise des Jeux 1997-99; Lampre 2000-03; CSC 2004 post career academy director British Cycling 2004-10; BMC Assistant Director 2010-14). Max Sciandri was one of the 51 names on the final list of those indicted during the ‘Blitz Raids’ of 2001. He was a client of the notorious Luigi Cecchini, who like Michele Ferrari learned under Francesco Conconi at the University of Ferrara. This relationship is written about in David Millar’s book, ‘Racing Through the Dark’, because Sciandri recommended Cecchini to Millar. Later, Sciandri became the man responsible for the development of young British riders, among them Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish.
Sergio Paulinho (Portugal, 34): (Liberty Seguros/Astana 2005-06; Discovery Channel 2007; Astana 2008-09; Radioshack 2010-11; Saxo-Tinkoff/Tinkoff -Saxo 2012-16). Silver medal winner in 2004 Olympic road race. Paulinho, who rode for Johan Bruyneel at Discovery Channel, Astana and Radioshack and now Bjarne Riis at Tinkoff-Saxo was one of the five Astana riders implicated in Operacion Puerto to be given a formal clearance by Spanish courts. One of these five was Alberto Contador.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Festina
Richard Virenque (France, 44): (Festina 1993-98; Polti 1999-2000). In 2000, Virenque finally admitted to taking banned substances whilst at Festina. In May 1999, he was arrested on suspicion of aiding drug trafficking for his links to Bernard Sainz, known as ‘Dr Mabuse’.
Alex Zulle (Switzerland, 46): (ONCE 1991-97; Festina 1998; Banesto 1999-2000; Bianchi-Coast 2001-02; Phonak 2003-04). Zulle, twice winner of the Vuelta a Espana and twice runner-up in the Tour de France in 1995 and 1999 has numerous doping infractions to his name. In 1993, he tested positive for Salbutamol at the Tour of the Basque Country. But he is most infamous for being one the eight Festina riders to have used EPO during the 1998 Tour de France.
Christophe Moreau (France, 43): (Festina 1995-2001; Credit-Agricole 2002-2005; AG2R 2006-07; Agritubel 2008-09; Banesto/Caisse d’Epargne/Movistar 2010). Moreau first tested positive, for steroids, after winning the 1998 Criterium International. In September 1998, he admitted to EPO use while at Festina, under the guidance of team doctor Eric Rijkaert.
Laurent Dufaux (Switzerland, 45): (ONCE 1993-94; Festina 1996-98; Saeco 1999-2001). In September 1998, Dufaux, runner-up in the 1997 Vuelta a Espana admitted to EPO use whilst at Festina.
Angel Casero (Spain, 42): (Banesto 1993-97; Vitalicio-Seguros 1998-99; Festina 2000-01; Kelme 2004-05). Casero won the 2001 Vuelta a Espana and finished 5th in the 1999 Tour de France. He tested positive for Nandrolone before the 1996 Olympics and was left off the Spanish team and was one of the Kelme riders named in Operacion Puerto in 2006 as a client of Eufemiano Fuentes.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … BMC
Cadel Evans (Australia, 37): (Mapei 2002; Telekom/T-Mobile 2003-04; Lotto 2005-09; BMC 2010-14). Winner of the 2011 Tour de France. World championships road race gold, 2009. There are no strong links to doping for Evans, Australia’s most successful professional cyclist. In 2012, he admitted that he had met Michele Ferrari in 2000 prior to the beginning of his road career to test his capabilities. His manager is Tony Rominger, the retired Swiss rider who was a client and close friends with Ferrari.
Mauro Santambrogio (Italy, 30): (Lampre 2006-09; BMC 2010-13). Santambrogio was first investigated for doping as part of the 2009 Mantova Investigation, which focused on wire-tapped telephone conversations between Lampre riders and the pharmacist Guido Nigrelli. He tested positive for EPO four years later during the 2013 Giro d’Italia.
Alessandro Ballan (Italy, 35): (Lampre 2004-09; BMC 2010-14). Winner 2008 road world championships. Like his teammate at Lampre and BMC Santambrogio, Ballan was investigated as part of the Mantova Investigation. This reached its conclusion in 2014, when the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) ruled that a blood transfusion Ballan had received in 2009 was illegal. He was suspended for two years and fired by BMC.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Gerolsteiner
Georg Totschnig (Austria, 43): (Telekom 1997-2000; Gerolsteiner 2001-06). Totschnig was allegedly involved with the HumanPlasma blood bank in Vienna. In February 2011 he was charged by Austrian prosecutors for lying under oath about his use of doping products.
Stefan Schumacher (Germany, 33): (Telekom 2002-03; Gerolsteiner 2006-08. Schumacher tested positive for CERA (third-generation EPO) during the 2008 Tour de France. Later that summer, he tested positive for CERA again at the Beijing Olympics. In 2013, he finally admitted to doping with growth hormone, EPO and corticoids.
Danilo Hondo (Germany, 40): (Telekom 1999-2003; Gerolsteiner 2004-05; Lampre 2010-12; Radioshack/Trek 2013-14). Hondo tested positive for Carphedon, a banned stimulant, following Stage 2 of the 2005 Vuelta a Murcia.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Mercatone Uno
Marco Pantani: (Italy, died at 34 in Feb 2004) (Mercatone Uno 1997-2003; Carrera 1992-1996). Tour de France winner 1998. Giro winner 1998. After ‘doing the double’ of Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in 1998, Pantani was expelled while leading the 1999 Giro for a haematocrit (red blood cell concentration)) above 50%. Source: Matt Rendell – ‘The Death of Marco Pantani’.
Igor Astarloa (Spain, 38): (Mercatone Uno 2000-01; Lampre 2004). World road race champion, 2003. In 2008, Astarloa was pulled out of the Giro d’Italia on Stage 2 having shown irregular blood values. His contract was terminated by Milram, his team at that time. A year later, Astarloa was fined and suspended by the UCI for a bio-passport infraction which effectively ended his career.
Stefano Garzelli (Italy, 41): (Mercatone Uno 1997-2000; Mapei 2001-02; Liquigas 2005-06). Giro winner in 2000. Garzelli tested positive for the masking agent Probenecid following his victory on Stage 2 of the 2002 Giro d’Italia. In 2011, he was part of the investigation into Michele Ferrari’s financial records and telephone calls.
Mario Cipollini (Italy, 47): (Mercatone Uno 1994-95; Saeco 1997-2001; Liquigas 2005). World road race champion 2002. Cipollini was on the list of EPO positives from the 1998 Tour de France published in 2013. He is also thought to have been a client of Eufemiano Fuentes, with the codename “Maria”.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Euskaltel
Haimar Zubeldia (Spain, 37): (Euskaltel 2001-08; Astana 2009; Radioshack/Trek factory Racing 2010-15). Zubeldia has never been implicated in any doping scandal, and is therefore technically the winner of the 2003 Tour de France, where he finished fifth.
Samuel Sanchez (Spain, 36): (Euskaltel 2001-13; BMC 2014). Olympic road race gold winner, 2008. Sanchez has never been named in any doping documents or been connected to a doping scandal through the 14 years of his career. He did criticise the ban given to Lance Armstrong.
Iban Mayo (Spain, 37): (Euskaltel 2001-2006; Saunier-Duval 2007). In the mid-2000s, Mayo was briefly considered Lance Armstrong’s biggest rival. On July 24 2007, the Tour de France’s rest day, he tested positive for EPO while riding for Saunier Duval. In October 2007, he was exonerated after his ‘B’ sample came back negative.
Mikel Astarloza (Spain, 35): (AG2R 2002-06; Euskaltel 2007-13). In June 2009, Astarloza tested positive for EPO. He was banned for two years.
Jon Odriozola (Spain, 43): (Banesto 1998-2003; Kelme 2004; as Directeur Sportif Euskaltel 2008-13, Murias Taldea 2015-). In 1997, Odriozola was part of the Batik team that collectively failed to show up for haematocrit testing.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Phonak
Oscar Pereiro (Spain, 37): (Phonak 2002-05; Caisse d’Epargne 2007-09; Astana 2010). Belated winner of the Tour de France after Floyd Landis’s 2006 disqualification. In the 2006 Tour he won by default after Floyd Landis’ disqualification, Pereiro is said to have tested positive twice for salbutamol, for which he did not have a Therapeutic Use Exemption. He was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.
Cyril Dessel (France, 39): (Phonak 2003-04; AG2R 2005-11). Dessel, the highest-placed French finisher in the 2006 Tour de France has never been linked with any doping scandal.
Tadej Valjavec (Slovenia, 37): (Fassa Bortolo 2000-03; Phonak 2004-05; Lampre 2006-07; AG2R 2008-10). In May 2010 while riding for AG2R, Valjavec was named as having suspect biological passport data by the UCI. He appealed to the Slovenian cycling federation and was cleared, but the UCI overturned the appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Santiago Perez (Spain, 37): (Kelme 2002; Phonak 2003-04). Perez tested positive for a blood transfusion in 2002 and was banned for two years.
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Riders of interest connected particularly with … Mapei
Axel Merckx (Belgium, 42): (Motorola 1995-96; Polti 1997-98; Mapei 1999-2000; Domo-Farm Frites 2001-02; Lotto 2003-05; T-Mobile 2007). Olympic bronze, 2004. Son of the great Eddy, Axel Merckx did not enjoy such a distinguished career but did inherit his father’s predilection for doping. His was one of the names released by the French Senate from the 1998 Tour de France that showed a positive for EPO.
Daniele Nardello (Italy, 42): (Mapei 1995-99; Telekom/T-Mobile 2003-07). Nothing exists to connect Nardello directly to any doping scandal. However, he was one of the riders who infamously abused Filippo Simeoni in the 2004 Tour de France after the Italian had spoken out against doping.
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