[Wielrennen] Doping #8: Ik ruik bloed!

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Op zaterdag 15 juli 2006 19:45 schreef JohnDDD het volgende:
en ullrich werd in de eerste etappe van vorig jaar ingehaald door lance armstrong, de cleanste renner ooit

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Ullrich and Sevilla miss team's deadline

Are Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla on their way out of the T-Mobile Team permanently? It's beginning to look that way. On Saturday morning, sports communication director Christian Frommert said that the two riders have missed the deadline to prove their innocence in the Operation Puerto affair.

Ullrich and Sevilla have "not met the request of the sponsor and the team management to provide their innocence," the team announced Saturday. The deadline, which was given to them upon their suspension June 30, "already expired on Thursday."

"Now it's in the hands of the attorneys to consider what steps to take next. This is a very difficult situation," Frommert said, and noted that he is confident to have an announcement "by the end of the Tour."

The team suspended Ullrich and Sevilla before the start of the Tour after both were named in the Spanish doping scandal involving Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. Directeur Sportif and Ullrich mentor Rudy Pevenage was fired over his involvement.

Both riders "assured us before they left Strasbourg on June 30 that they wanted to prove their innocence," Frommert said. This has not yet happened.

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Basso prepares his defence

By Hedwig Kröner, with additional reporting from Shane Stokes

Ever since Ivan Basso returned home to his native Italy on June 30, one day prior to the start of the Tour de France, the now suspended CSC rider has been in close contact with his lawyer, Massimo Martelli, who has taken over not only the preparation of his defence but also his relations to the media.

Martelli, wrote L'Equipe's Philippe Brunel in Wednesday's edition of the paper, travelled to Madrid last week to meet the investigators of the Guardia Civil and the magistrate in charge of the Operacion Puerto affair. The attorney was given a copy of the dossier which led to Basso's exclusion of the Tour.

"There are very few indications," he said, "only suppositions and indirect proof." Martelli added that Basso appeared in none of the video camera-recorded films the officials had used in their investigation, and that the recorded telephone calls which concerned Basso included silences and omissions which could be used for all sorts of interpretations.

"One correspondent tells doctor Fuentes that a 'certain' Basso won. But in Italy for example, the word 'certain' is used for an unknown person," Martelli said. As for the codename 'Birillo', the attorney added that this was an invention of the media. "Birillo is supposed to be the name of Basso's dog. But yesterday, I heard his daughter Domitilla call the dog 'Tarello' - I don't think that at two years of age, a child could be wrong about the name of its dog."

So while Basso is said to train every day, being "very impatient to get out of this dead end", his representative is in contact with the authorities in charge: the UCI, which is in possession of more complete documents on the case, as well as the Anti-Doping section of the Italian Olympic committee, which will let Basso be heard once it has all the information available. It can then either classify the case or else send Basso before the disciplinary commission of his cycling federation, which could ask Basso for a DNA test.

While the winner of the Giro d'Italia is in favour of the idea, his attorney isn't. "It's a traumatic act, and not reliable to 100 percent," Martelli said.

However many other lawyers and scientists would disagree with this last assertion. DNA testing is taken to being 99.5 percent reliable and has been used as the mainstay of countless criminal cases for many years. In fact, if an inaccurate reading does occur, this decreases rather than increases the chances of Basso having a blood match.

Across the border in Switzerland, the president of the Swiss Olympic committee's doping section Gerhard Walter stated several days ago that he felt such testing was vital in the case of Jan Ullrich, another accused of working with Dr. Fuentes. "The reports out of Spain indicate a seemingly clear situation, therefore it's up to the athletes to exonerate themselves," he stated. "If Ullrich, for example, doesn't make a DNA test, then I assume that the charges are true."

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Op zondag 16 juli 2006 00:01 schreef Ericr het volgende:

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Via dezelfde bron als hierboven. Voor Basso ziet het er nog iets positiever uit, het bewijs is flinterdun en een DNA-test zou veel duidelijkheid kunnen scheppen.

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Op zaterdag 15 juli 2006 19:45 schreef JohnDDD het volgende:
en ullrich werd in de eerste etappe van vorig jaar ingehaald door lance armstrong, de cleanste renner ooit

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Op zondag 16 juli 2006 17:53 schreef maril het volgende:
Lekker laf anoniem dus.

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Ullrich says he is "innocent until proven guilty"

By Susan Westemeyer

"Under our legal system, I am, like everyone else, considered innocent until proven guilty," Jan Ullrich said on Monday in his first -- and possibly last -- public statement on his implication in the Operation Puerto doping scandal. He denied that he has gone into hiding, and said that contrary to previous reports, his attorneys submitted a written position to his team within the time limit the team had set.

T-Mobile team manager Olaf Ludwig confirmed to the SID press agency that the repot had been received, however, it said only that it was not up to him to prove his innocence, and that there was no direct evidence to prove his guilt.

Christian Frommert, director of Sports Communications for T-Mobile, confirmed that the statement issued to the team by Ullrich's lawyer's did not meet the standard the team has demanded. T-Mobile had requested a written report proving Ullrich's innocence, which Ullrich had indicated two weeks ago he would submit. Frommert said that what was received was "a statement that no statement proving innocence would be submitted."

Ullrich's manager, Wolfgang Strohband, said that a further explanation "would be possible in the future," without setting a date. In his press release, Ullrich said that on the advice of his attorneys, he would not make any more public statements. Strohband also confirmed that the attorneys had advised Ullrich not to have a DNA test.

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Aldag on Ullrich: "Sometimes we wondered"

What goes on behind closed doors? Even teammates and friends don't always know. Rolf Aldag rode with Jan Ullrich for ten years, and often shared a room with him. But not always, and roommates don't spend all their time together. "Jan often had a single room. And when he shared a double room with a teammate, he would have had time" to use doping products or procedures, Aldag said in an interview on www.sport1.de. "He would often be alone for an hour with a helper in his room. And his roommate wouldn't kick the door in, of course, he would just disappear. Sometimes we wondered what was up when we saw strangers hanging around the hallway."

What does Aldag think of Ullrich's explanations so far? "Not much. Jan must do the DNA test. Then if he was found innocent he could say, 'See!' What he is doing now is not acceptable."

Aldag also speculated over a possible role of Rudy Pevenage in a doping scheme. "Pevenage was always linked very closely to Jan and their ties became even stronger after the change to Coast at the end of 2002. Pevenage bound himself more and more to Jan. And as the pressure increased with the expected battle with Ivan Basso for the Tour victory, perhaps Pevenage lost his nerve. How shall Jan have gotten in contact with the Spaniards? He can't speak the language and would have needed someone to act as middleman."

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Op woensdag 19 juli 2006 14:29 schreef Ericr het volgende:

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http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/jul06/jul19news4


Van je 'vrienden' moet je het hebben, de beerput gaat langzaam maar zeker open.

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Op vrijdag 21 juli 2006 14:48 schreef opgebaarde het volgende:
Maar renners als Ullrich en Basso, als die straks schuldig bevonden worden, hebben dus in het seizoen 2004 - 2005 gebruikt, gaan ze dan nog hun prijzen die ze toen gewonnen hadden verliezen eigenlijk?

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Op vrijdag 21 juli 2006 15:50 schreef JohnDDD het volgende:
er zijn trouwens heel wat mensen tegenwoordig (waaronder veel artsen) die zeggen dat ze renners transfusies zouden moeten mogen geven omdat dat de renners gezonder houdt.

ik heb daar eens over nagedacht en ben het er eigenlijk wel mee oneens.

dit is topsport. sport is een wedstrijd waarin het erom gaat dat je de snelste of de beste bent. Op een gegeven moment blijft er een toplaag van mensen met veel talent over die min of meer gelijk aan elkaar zijn. Van deze mensen zullen er vast enkelen zijn die hun gezondheid in meer of mindere mate op het spel willen zetten voor de sport. Het gaat er juist om hoe diep je kunt gaan en hoe zwaar je jezelf kunt belasten, zeker wanneer het gaat om winnen. Wanneer je 20 mensen hebt met dezelfde vermogens en hetzelfde talent, wint degene die zichzelf het diepst en zwaarst kan en durft te belasten. Daarom vind ik het belachelijk om voor te stellen de renners door transfusies gezond(er) te houden. Dan zullen ze alleen nog maar harder gaan rijden, en overigens geldt hetzelfde voor het inkorten van koersen en minder zwaar maken van koersen (hoewel een klein beetje misschien wel mag, zo'n vlakke rit kan ook best 150km zijn ipv 200km)

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Op vrijdag 21 juli 2006 16:45 schreef Komakie het volgende:

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Wielrennen is geen topsport (meer)
De persoon die de beste doping vindt, wint. Natuurlijk is er ook wel training en talent voor nodig maar doping is er zeker bij bijna iedereen aanwezig. Alleen niet alle vormen zijn aan te tonen of al bekend...

Zoals gisteren bij Landis. Je gelooft toch niet echt dat hij de ene dag helemaal stuk is en de volgende dag iedereen naar huis rijdt? Daar zit meer achter dan alleen maar "een goeie dag"

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T-Mobile terminates Ullrich and Sevilla's contracts
T-Mobile Team has terminated its contract with Jan Ullrich, effective July 20, the rider announced today. The team's manager Olaf Ludwig comfirmed this to sid. Oscar Sevilla has also been sacked, as a result of his involvement in the Operacion Puerto affair.

Ullrich's manager, Wolfgang Strohband, said, "The termination is groundless." If the discussions that are planned for the next week do not bring an agreement, he announced that Ullrich will be represented by Dr. Ulrich Theune, an attorney who said, "The termination will not hold up."

Ullrich showed himself hurt by the process. "The termination from T-Mobile is not acceptable to me. I'm very disappointed that they didn't inform me of this decision personally, but that the T-Mobile attorneys simply sent me a fax.

"They should be ashamed of themselves - after so many years of good work together and after everything I have done for the team, they just handle me like a fax number."

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Op vrijdag 21 juli 2006 16:45 schreef Komakie het volgende:

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Wielrennen is geen topsport (meer)
De persoon die de beste doping vindt, wint. Natuurlijk is er ook wel training en talent voor nodig maar doping is er zeker bij bijna iedereen aanwezig. Alleen niet alle vormen zijn aan te tonen of al bekend...

Zoals gisteren bij Landis. Je gelooft toch niet echt dat hij de ene dag helemaal stuk is en de volgende dag iedereen naar huis rijdt? Daar zit meer achter dan alleen maar "een goeie dag"

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Op vrijdag 21 juli 2006 22:13 schreef Rudieh het volgende:
ik verwonderde me laatst over het feit dat meervoudig Vuelta-winnaar nog aan het knoeien was met EPO ipv bloeddoping

zou dat een financiële reden kunnen hebben?

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T-Mobile explains firing of Ullrich and Sevilla

Team T-Mobile, through the Olaf Ludwig Cycling GmbH, confirmed today that it has terminated its contracts with Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla, effective immediately. In addition, sponsor T-Mobile International AG has taken steps to cancel a contract with Ullrich concerning his association with the firm after his career end.

"In late June Spanish investigators submitted a document that provided clear evidence that Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla had tried to boost their performance through the use of banned substances," states the text of a T-Mobile press release issued on Friday. "Directly after their subsequent suspension, Ullrich and Sevilla declared their intent to prove their innocence. However, right up until the time their contracts were terminated by T-Mobile and the OLC, neither had brought forward any information to exonerate themselves."

Team manager Olaf Ludwig said that this left them will little choice. "Since Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla didn't make any moves to prove their innocence, terminating their contracts was the logical and necessary follow-up to their suspension," he said.

"We have received no new information. Our lawyers, who have been involved with this case since the beginning, have taken this step," said Ludwig, whose only additional comment was, "The lawyers will take care of it all."

"We respect Jan Ullrich's statement that the assumption of innocent until proven guilty applies not just to him, but to all. However sport, especially cycling, has its developed its own ethical and moral rules, which are written into the riders' contracts." The riders' active cooperation in proving their innocence "was expected for this reason," according to Ludwig.

"We are all very disappointed that it had to come to this step," added Christian Frommert, T-Mobile International's director of sports communication. "But the information that we have received doesn't let us make any other decision....The lawyers have checked everything out and are acting now in order to meet deadlines. We would have to had to lift the suspension sometime, or terminate the contracts, as has now happened. Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla had a deadline to prove their innocence. But we don't have any information as to positive doping tests."

T-Mobile also announced that it was distancing itself from a post-career agreement it had made with Jan Ullrich back in early 2004.

The release ended by indicating what evidence existed to suggest that Ullrich, Sevilla and Rudy Pevenage (Ullrich's mentor and former T-Mobile sporting director, already sacked by OLC in early July) were involved in the activities investigated during the Operación Puerto matter.

"Spanish investigators uncovered in May a Madrid-based doping network, which led to the arrest of sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes among others. Evidence uncovered in house raids, intercepted telephone calls and SMS records have clearly pointed towards the involvement of Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla and Rudy Pevenage in the doping scandal," the release concluded.