Ullrich, Sevilla and Pevenage suspended
Rudy Pevenage
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T-Mobile has suspended Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla and Rudy Pevenage in the wake of the Operacion Puerto affair. The three were implicated in the doping scandal as being clients of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes. None of them will take part in the Tour de France.
More information to follow
The list gets longer
On the eve of the Tour de France, Spanish radio Cadena SER has published a more detailed list of names that are among the 58 (56, according to the radio station) cyclists implicated in Operacion Puerto. The list still includes big names such as Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, as well as a sizeable representation from Astana-Würth and Comunidad Valenciana. The riders are alleged to have used the services of Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, who is alleged to have prescribed them with detailed doping programs.
The Spanish Civil Guard collected four boxes of papers, according to Cadena SER, and has identified the riders by using the key to the codes hidden in Dr Fuentes' notebooks. In addition, El Pais has published copies of the alleged doping programs of Comunidad Valenciana and Joseba Beloki.
The Spanish Secretary of State for Sport, Jaime Lissavetsky, is meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Francois Lamour today in Strasbourg to discuss the implications of the official 500-page court report, which could lead to the ejection of 22 riders from the Tour de France.
The list so far (31 riders)
Astaná-Würth: Michele Scarponi, Marcos Serrano, David Etxebarria, Joseba Beloki, Angel Vicioso, Isidro Nozal, Unai Osa, Jörg Jaksche
CSC: Ivan Basso
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears: Constantino Zaballa
Saunier Duval: Carlos Zarate
AG2R: Francisco Mancebo
T-Mobile: Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla
Phonak: Jose Enrique Gutierrez, Jose Ignacio Gutierrez
Comunidad Valenciana: Vicente Ballester, David Bernabeu, David Blanco Rodriguez, Jose Adrian Bonillla, Juan Gomis Lopez, Eladio Jimenez, David Latasa, Javier Pascual, Ruben Plaza, J.Luis M. Jimenez
Unibet.Com: Carlos Garcia Quesada
Retired/suspended riders: Roberto Heras, Angel Casero, Santiago Perez, Tyler Hamilton
ASO rejects CAS decision
Astaná-Würth
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The Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to allow Astaná-Würth to race in the Tour has been rejected by organisers ASO, who issued a statement to that effect late Thursday. ASO pointed out that "CAS nevertheless recognised that the Tour de France has to 'take its responsibilities' and that it wished to preserve its race and 'to defend the interests of the sport of cycling'.
"The organisers of the Tour de France regret CAS claimed "the absence of official information" and the fact that "there is currently more uncertainty than facts established concretely" while, according to its own terms, 'many disturbing elements were revealed on this team.' For all that, facing the blight of doping, the determination of the Tour de France remains intact."
Franc info reported on Friday morning that ASO also received the official Operacion Puerto report last night, and have been studying it. "We will take the responsibility if the teams don't take responsibility themselves," said race boss Jean-Marie Leblanc, who pointed out that the teams are bound to the code of ethics.
Bruyneel bearish on TDF doping situation
Bullish on Discovery Channel's Tour chances
By Tim Maloney, European Editor in Strasbourg
Johan Bruyneel
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Cyclingnews caught up with Discovery Channel's sports manager Johan Bruyneel after his team returned from the Tour de France medical checks at the Tour HQ in Strasbourg. Rumours were flying and we asked Bruyneel for his take on the situation with Operacion Puerto. "Definitely what has happened in Spain (with Operacion Puerto) is probably the biggest doping scandal in cycling and maybe even in sports ever," explained Bruyneel. "Much more than the Festina affair in 1998. And everyday, people are aware as it becomes bigger and bigger and it's definitely damaging the sport of cycling. There's been a lot of damage done already but it's getting so big that cycling is losing credibility. When people like the UCI, teams, our sponsors who are not implicated (in Operacion Puerto) start to have the impression that this is damaging their image, that is something else. That's a serious problem for cycling. It's a big deal."
We also asked Bruyneel what his team sponsors were saying to him about the current doping scandal and his frank reply was that "they know that the Discovery Channel team doesn't have anyone involved in this...but at the same time, I think it would be very difficult to start negotiations with a new sponsor for any team. Obviously for teams directly involved, but like with iShares, there was no reason for them to not sponsor (Phonak).
"I don't know exactly the situation is there, but it's bad for everybody. And it's not good that certain teams might go out of the Tour and others might not. It should either be all or nothing. All the information (from Operacion Puerto) needs to be acted on. I don't think we can start the Tour de France with those kind of doubts and uncertainty. It's bad for the riders and there's already enough suspicion around. No one, not the riders, or the media or the the fans will be able to focus on the race. I don't think the Tour De France needs this and I hope their will be something resolved soon for everybody's sake."
As for how the tumultuous situation was affecting his Discovery Channel riders as they embarked on their first Lance-less Tour De France, Bruyneel was far more optimistic. "We've got a good vibe; the guys are motivated and they've all been preparing for the Tour for a long time knowing that Lance won't be here. The team atmosphere is relaxed; everybody is in good spirits and we're going to go out in this year and take every opportunity we can get. It won't be in the past like with Lance; we're interested in it all...stage wins, sending someone in a break, team classification. Everything that's in front of us and we have a shot at it, we're going to go for it and try to get it. It's a logical choice that we make an about face in our tactics as we have a different ballgame now. So I am confident that the team is good, that we have some very strong guys and that we're going to be an important factor in this year's Tour De France."
Bruyneel reed natuurlijk ook voor Saiz niet waar, bij ONCE? Mja. Nooit vertrouwd die jongens.
Als je zo gaat nadenken over al die namen, dan zou Azevedo er ook nog wel eens bij kunnen zijn, die reed in de periode 2003 ook voor ONCE.
Gaat voor de BHFH-award 2005!
Humanitas est in bestias bonitas.
I am the hole I can't get out of.