News - 2007

Cofidis withdraw after Moreni positive : 26/07/07
The Cofidis team have withdrawn from the Tour de France following the news that their Italian rider Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone.

The 34-year-old Moreni, Italian champion in 2004, failed a dope test after last Thursday's 11th stage from Marseille to Montpellier.

He has been arrested by French police, while the hotel of the Cofidis team in Lescar has been searched.

Moreni is the second Tour rider to fail a drugs test following Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov's positive for blood doping.

Vinokourov tested positive after his victory in last Saturday's time trial in Albi. As a result, his Astana team have pulled out of the Tour. Vinokourov denies doping.

Rasmussen out of Tour as Rabobank wield axe : 26/07/07
The Danish climbing specialist had claimed he had been in Mexico after failing to notify the International Cycling Union for the missed tests, though he was in fact still in Italy.

"Several times he said where he was training and it proved to be wrong. The management of the team received that information several times and today we received new information," said Rabobank sporting director Theo de Rooy.

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme commented: "The important thing is not that he has been sacked by his team but that he will not be at the start of the stage tomorrow." It is not yet known whether the rest of the Rabobank team will continue the race.

Rasmussen had come under fire after the Danish Cycling Union dropped him from their team for the world championships in Stuttgart this year and the Olympic Games in 2008, citing two missed tests on May 8 and June 28 as the reason.

Rasmussen had seemed set for overall victory in Paris after blowing away main rival Alberto Contador on the last kilometre of the Col d'Aubisque in stage 16, though it is now the diminutive Spaniard who leads the overall classification by 1 minute 53 seconds from Predictor-Lotto's Cadel Evans. The scandal is the third to hit cycling's blue riband event within the space of just two days.

The Astana team withdrew from the Tour on Tuesday after it emerged that pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive for blood doping, while the French outfit Cofidis did likewise on Wednesday following the news the Italian rider Cristian Moreni had tested positive for abnormally high levels of testosterone.

Astana pull out of Tour after Vinokourov fails dope test: 25/07/07
Astana revealed that their Kazakh leader failed a test after winning Saturday's time trial in Albi. Vinokourov's blood sample was analysed at Chatenay-Malabry and reportedly showed two different types of red blood cells, showing the rider had received a transfusion shortly before the start of the stage.

A team statement said: "The anti-doping control on Alexandre Vinokourov, which was carried out on July 21 after the time trial in Albi, has tested positive. "According to the ethical code of the Astana Cycling Team Alexandre Vinokourov has been suspended from the team with immediate effect. The rider has asked nevertheless for a B-sample analysis.

"Informed by the Astana management, the organisers of the Tour de France invited the team to withdraw, which was immediately accepted."

UCI president Pat McQuaid said: "I cannot comment on this until the result of the B sample's analysis." If the B sample also provides a positive result, the rider will almost certainly be banned for two years.

Vuelta champion Vinokourov was one of the pre-race favourites for this year's Tour but injured his knees in a crash during the first week of the race. The 33-year-old then blew any hopes of victory when he finished almost half an hour down on stage winner Alberto Contador and overall leader Michael Rasmussen on Sunday.

Vinokourov, who won Monday's 15th stage, was 23rd in the overall standings, 28 minutes and 21 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Rasmussen of Denmark.

Andreas Kloeden was Astana's best placed rider in the standings. The German, second in 2004 and third last year, was fifth overall, 5:34 down on the leader.

Astana sacked Matthias Kessler earlier this month after the German rider tested positive for the elevated levels of testosterone. The team withdrew on the eve of the 2006 race after five of Vinokourov's team mates were implicated in a doping scandal.

Last year's Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is still awaiting a ruling from a United States arbitration panel after testing positive for testosterone during the 2006 race. The American has protested his innocence but if the decision goes against him, he could become the first Tour winner to be stripped of his title.

T-Mobile rider Sinkewitz tests positive for testosterone before the Tour de France: 20/07/07
T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz tested positive for high levels of testosterone before the Tour de France, but competed in the race until a crash forced him to drop out. Sinkewitz was tested June 8, a month before the start of the Tour, and the A sample came back positive, the German cycling federation said Wednesday.

Sinkewitz participated in the Tour, which began in London on July 7, but dropped out after crashing into a spectator after stage 8 on Sunday. He has been provisionally suspended by his team, T-Mobile spokesman Stefan Wagner said. Sinkewitz has five days to decide whether to request a B sample test. If that also comes back positive, he faces a possible ban. He also would be fired by his team and have to pay back his annual salary.

"It's not possible. I know nothing about it," Sinkewitz told the German news agency DPA from a Hamburg clinic. "I am about to have surgery. I can't deal with it now." The rider is being treated for facial injuries, including a broken nose, and other injuries. T-Mobile company spokesman Christian Frommert said Sinkewitz was having surgery on his jaw.

Sinkewitz was tested with four other Telekom riders during a training camp in the Pyrenees, Wagner said. One was Linus Gerdemann, who won a stage at the Tour. Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency said it usually takes up to four weeks for a lab to examine a sample and that the result of Sinkewitz's test became known Monday. The agency then informed the German cycling federation.

Gerdemann, considered one of Germany's top cycling hopes along with Sinkewitz, said the case showed that the controls were getting better. "I think the possibility to dope is getting smaller and smaller," Gerdemann said. "It's a good sign that the system is starting to work ... the guys that try to dope, they have no chance any more."

Sinkewitz signed the International Cycling Union's new anti-doping charter that commits riders to promise that they are not involved in doping and agree to pay a year's salary on top of a two-year ban if caught doping. "If he is (positive after the B sample), he's ultimately sanctioned and he gets a ban and he'll have to face the music as far as the charter is concerned," UCI president Pat McQuaid said.

Bob Stapleton, T-Mobile team manager, said Sinkewitz would be fired if the result is confirmed positive. While elevated testosterone levels do not necessarily indicate doping, Sinkewitz was reportedly six times over the limit.

International Cycling Union asks for 2-year ban for Basso: 18/06/07
Cycling's governing body Thursday recommended a two-year doping ban for Ivan Basso, the star Italian rider who won the 2006 Giro d'Italia.

The Italian Olympic Committee's doping prosecutors asked last month that Basso be banned for 21 months. Basso has a hearing scheduled before the Italian cycling federation on Friday, after which his ban will be decided.

"While we appreciate the work CONI has done and its effort in putting the case in its lawful context, we have to underline that the reasons indicated for proposing a reduction of the suspension to 21 months do not confirm to regulations," the UCI letter said.

The Italian Olympic Committee decided on the 21-month ban since it is Basso's first offense. Basso is accused of using or attempting to use a banned substance or method, and "possession of banned substances and methods."

He was suspended by the Italian federation last month after acknowledging involvement in the probe, known as Operation Puerto. He confessed to "attempted doping," but said he never actually went through with it.

Landis's lawyers renew attack on French laboratory : 25/05/07
Lawyers representing Floyd Landis renewed their attack on the French laboratory that analyzed the Tour de France champion's urine samples as his public doping hearing entered its final day on Wednesday. Responding to questions, British mass spectrometry expert Simon Davis said he was "flabbergasted" by the way technicians operated at the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory (LNDD) outside Paris.

Davis, an observer for Landis when the samples were re-tested at the LNDD in April, said data from the lab had been manipulated and described the instrument used as a "very expensive and random number generator." He added that critical evidence had been removed from the lab's computer hardware.

"Frankly, I was flabbergasted when I saw they were reprocessing it manually," he said, referring to how the LNDD technicians had reprocessed the results. Davis said he had expected the re-testing of Landis's samples to be performed on modern software instead of the 10-year-old software used for the initial analysis last year.

Landis, battling to keep his 2006 Tour title after a positive doping test, has consistently denied using performance enhancing drugs and his legal team claim the French laboratory failed to adhere to "international standards."

At issue is whether Landis's remarkable comeback in one of the Tour's toughest hill-climb stages was the result of his taking a synthetic form of the male hormone testosterone.

BUNGLED TESTS

Tests performed at the LNDD on a urine sample taken from Landis after the Tour's 17th stage purportedly showed evidence of the synthetic testosterone but Landis's legal team claim the French technicians were incompetent and bungled the tests. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) lawyers say the test results were accurate and that Landis should be punished with a two-year suspension and the loss of his Tour championship.

It would be the first time in the 104-year history of the epic cycle race that a winner has been stripped of his title. Amid the welter of often tedious scientific evidence given during the nine-day hearing, three-times Tour winner Greg LeMond implied on the witness stand that Landis had implicitly admitted to taking synthetic testosterone. LeMond testified on Thursday that he spoke to Landis by phone shortly after the news that Landis's urine test had proved positive for testosterone, asking him to "come clean" and help the sport of cycling.

He said Landis replied: "What good would it do ... if I did, it would destroy a lot of my friends and hurt a lot of people." LeMond also said he had received a threatening phone call from Landis's former business manager, Will Geoghegan, intimating he would reveal that LeMond had been sexually abused as a child. The Landis camp subsequently fired Geoghegan.

Landis, who testified on Saturday and again on Tuesday, has repeatedly denied taking steroids, saying he could not take any joy in winning had he cheated. The hearing, in a court room setting at Pepperdine University's School of Law, is being held before three attorneys who specialize in arbitration. It is the first such anti-doping hearing to be held in public in the United States.

Landis doping hearing begins with denial: 15/05/07
Floyd Landis, winner of last year's Tour de France, kicked off his 10-day doping hearing on Monday with a denial that he had doped himself and criticism of testing procedures in cycling's top race. Landis's attorney Maurice Suh said in his opening statement that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) was so determined to prove Landis guilty that they had turned the case into a "holy mess."

Landis is present at the hearing which is being held at Pepperdine University. Last week, the cyclist said he had been offered a reduced sentence by USADA if he offered "incriminating evidence" about fellow U.S. cyclist and seven-times Tour winner Lance Armstrong, who was cleared last year of using illegal substances.

At the hearing, which concludes on May 23, three arbitration experts will determine whether Landis injected himself with the male hormone testosterone.

If found guilty of doping, Landis faces a two-year suspension and the possibility of becoming the first Tour winner to be stripped of his title. Suh said tests on Landis's urine sample, given after he had completed the 17th stage of the Tour, had been bungled by a laboratory in Paris which had failed to adhere to "the international standards for laboratories."

"This is an embarrassment," Suh said, arguing that the technicians who carried out the tests were incompetent and their equipment was faulty.

But Richard Young, attorney for USADA, defended the Paris laboratory, saying the tests had been corroborated by a wealth of evidence and had been independently confirmed. Young said "Landis bet the house" that a second round of tests would prove him innocent.

"He lost the bet. The respondent went eight for eight positive," said Young, referring to the number of tests performed on Landis' urine sample. Suh said the arbitrators had to ask themselves "did Floyd, knowing he would be tested, take testosterone which he knew would not have a beneficial effect?"

Stressing the importance of the case, Suh added "never in the history of the Tour de France has the winner been accused of doping. This is a historic case that has to be done right."

Basso denies drug taking, admits trying to dope: 09/05/07
Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso said on Tuesday he had never used illegal substances or blood transfusions but was guilty of attempts at doping.

"It is only attempted doping. In my career I have never used doping substances or transfusions," Basso told reporters at a packed news conference in Milan. "I will serve my punishment and return to racing," said the Italian, who added he was limited in what he could say for legal reasons.

The 29-year-old told the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Monday that he was involved in Spain's Operation Puerto doping scandal and would collaborate fully with CONI's probe. Basso has been accused of violating article 2.2 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code concerning "use or attempted use of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method". Basso was forced to miss last year's Tour de France as one of over 50 professional riders implicated in Operation Puerto. The Spanish investigation was launched after police raids in Madrid and Zaragoza found large quantities of anabolic steroids, blood transfusion equipment and more than 200 bags of blood.

Basso, who quit the Discovery Channel team last week, had previously stated he was a victim in the investigation and maintained his innocence.

Discovery team releases Basso: 02/05/07
The 29-year-old cyclist Ivan Basso, was one of 50 riders implicated in last year's Spanish doping scandal, Operation Puerto, which led to his exclusion from the 2006 Tour. His name appeared on a list of cyclists who allegedly had contact with a Spanish doctor accused of running a blood doping clinic in Madrid.

"This was a very difficult decision, for me and my family, but I think it is the right thing to do," Basso said. "The team is trying to find a new sponsor and win bike races, and my situation is a distraction to both of those goals. It is important that everyone knows this was 100 percent my decision."

"Ivan's request was unexpected and he was very emotional, but adamant, about his decision to be released," Discovery director Johan Bruyneel said. "We spoke with him at length before granting his request."

"When we signed Ivan, all the necessary governing authorities had cleared him," Discovery team general manager Bill Stapleton said. "He deserved a team, and we had always wanted to sign him. We did our due diligence, and we have no regrets."

Basso repeatedly has denied doping and was cleared of involvement by the Italian Olympic Committee and the Italian cycling federation last October.

Tour winner Landis hit by new failed tests, report: 25/04/07
Urine samples from cyclist Floyd Landis taken during his contested win in the 2006 Tour de France have reportedly tested positive for the banned substance testosterone. On its website, the French sport daily L'Equipe reported that "B" samples belonging to the American had been tested retrospectively following a request from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

However French anti-doping agency president Pierre Bordry told AFP that although the analyses had been carried out, the results were not yet known. He said that seven "B" urine samples belonging to Landis, which were marked only by a number, were analysed alongside several other anonymous samples, none of which are identifiable.

Leading the prosecution case against Landis, USADA successfully appealed to an arbitration panel that the seven "B" samples be tested at the French laboratory which processed his original, and disputed, positive test. Landis, who denies taking performance-enhancing drugs, has charged the Labaratoire National Depistage de Dopage's (LNDD) laboratory at Chatenay-Malabry outside Paris with mis-handling his original samples. He has said he would prefer the samples to be tested at the University of California at a Los Angeles accredited laboratory.

Landis's spokesman Michael Henson reacted immediately to the news on the L'Equipe website. "Under the orders of the USADA, Paul Scott (Landis's expert) was denied access to the LNDD," he said in a statement. "Hence, the analyses of two samples were carried out without Landis representatives, something which constitutes a violation of his rights and casts a serious shadow over the integrity of an already suspect procedure."

Landis, 31, is in danger of being stripped of his Tour de France victory and given a two-year ban. The American, whose positive test from stage 17 of the 2006 race prompted the collapse of his Phonak team, also faces a French government probe but that has been delayed until after the inquiry following his promise not to race in France this year, ending any chance to defend his title.

Landis to compete in Teva Mountain Games in Vail: 20/04/07
Tour de France champion Floyd Landis will compete in the Teva Mountain Games in June despite an ongoing doping investigation and hip surgery last year. Organizers said Landis will participate in road bike and mountain bike stages of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge on June 2-3, which also includes kayak and trail running races.

Ian Anderson, a spokesman for the games, said the doping investigation did not deter organizers from inviting Landis. "From the event's perspective, he's a big-name athlete that we are excited will be able to generate quite a bit of coverage for the event and hopefully raise quite a bit of money for a great cause," Anderson said.

The event is a fundraiser for cancer research. "I am excited to put my new hip to the test racing in the Rockies," Landis said in a statement on his Web site. "This is a wonderful opportunity to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation at the same time." Landis, who underwent surgery on his right hip last September, also plans to compete in Colorado's Leadville Trail 100, a 100-mile mountain-bike race in August.

At the 2006 Tour, Landis' urine sample after a 17th-stage win was found to contain elevated testosterone to epitestosterone levels. The 31-year-old cyclist faces a two-year ban and would be the first Tour rider to be stripped of the title if the doping allegations are upheld. He repeatedly has denied doping and has an arbitration hearing scheduled for May 14 in California.

Compromise reached on Paris-Nice cycling race: 06/03/07
The international cycling federation and organizers of next week's Paris-Nice race reached an agreement Monday that will allow the major teams to compete in the ProTour opening event, staving off a possible split in the sport. "We will race," said Patrick Lefevere, president of International Professional Cycling Teams.

International Cycling Union president Patrick McQuaid and Patrice Clerc, the organizer of the Paris-Nice and Tour de France, needed nine hours of negotiations to resolve the immediate problems of the March races. The agreement follows months of bickering and boycott threats that could have affected the rest of the season. "The sport got out of this crisis," McQuaid said.

Former Tour de France champion retires from active cycling career: 27/02/07

Former Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich announced his retirement from competitive cycling on Monday, eight months after his career was put on hold by a doping investigation.

The 33-year-old German, who won the sport's most prestigious race in 1997, said at a presentation in Hamburg he would work as an adviser to the small Austrian Volksbank team.

"I will continue my involvement in cycling but I'm ending my active career as a professional cyclist," said Ullrich, who has strongly denied any involvement in doping.

"I couldn't live without cycling. It's my passion and my life." Ullrich was withdrawn from the T-Mobile team before last year's Tour de France after being linked with the Operation Puerta doping investigation in Spain.

He was suspended and then dropped by his team despite his insistence he was not involved. Since then Ullrich has been without a professional team, although he has not been charged with a doping offence. "I could easily have got a licence to ride," Ullrich said. "I had seven offers, including some from ProTour teams, and I'm still fit." In a 43-minute monologue before the TV cameras, he slammed the way he had been treated by the German cycling community and described his continuing disbelief at the decision to prevent him riding the 2006 Tour.

"That was one of the worst days of my life," said Ullrich. "I was in good form and we were convinced we could go all out for the win." Ullrich also won the 1999 Tour of Spain and two medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, gold in the road race and silver in the time trial. He was 23 when he won the 1997 Tour and many predicted he would go on to dominate the sport in the manner of five-times champion Miguel Indurain, whose reign had ended the previous year.

Discovery Channel set to quit cycling team: 12/02/07
Lance Armstrong's former team is facing an uncertain future after the sponsor, Discovery Channel, said it would end its support after the 2007 season.

USA Today on Friday quoted Armstrong's long-time agent and lawyer Bill Stapleton as saying the decision was linked to the sacking of Discovery Network's president Billy Campbell by new Communications president and CEO David Zaslav. Campbell had been instrumental in bringing in Discovery Channel as a sponsor to replace US Postal in 2004.

The report said Campbell also pushed the team to sign Italian star and Tour de France favorite Ivan Basso, who was embroiled earlier this year in a Spanish doping investigation but was later cleared due to a lack of evidence. Stapleton said: "This would not have happened if Billy Campbell was still there. This is about their change in management."

The decision means that seven-time Tour de France winner Armstrong, who is still a part owner of the team, will be forced to look for a new major sponsor if he wants to continue in the sport. Armstrong retired in 2005, handing Discovery Channel their first win at the world's biggest race as the title sponsor after coming on board on a smaller capacity in 2004.

In last year's race the team struggled without Armstrong at the helm. Only Ukrainian Yaroslav Popovych's victory on stage 12 helped soothe a campaign in which Discovery failed to place any riders in the top 15. Stapleton, who is the executive of Austin-based Tailwind Sports - which owns the team in which Armstrong has a stake - said the company is already looking at potential replacements.

Landis seeks millions to fund doping defence: 26/01/07
NEW YORK (AFP) - American cyclist Floyd Landis is seeking to raise two million dollars to fund a fight to clear his name of doping charges. Landis, who is expected to be stripped of the Tour de France yellow jersey for testing positive after the 2006 race, said the money is needed to cover legal fees and expenses in connection with his defence.

"Despite their lack of adherence to individual rights and due process ... the sports bureaucracies pursuing Floyd are funded in large part by multi-million dollar grants of US taxpayer dollars and have financial and human resources that far outstrip those of even a professional athlete of Floyd's accomplishments," said Landis's spokesman Michael Henson.

Landis has claimed that inconsistencies by the French laboratory which analysed his samples led to his positive result. If found guilty, Landis would be the first rider in the modern era to be stripped of the Tour de France's yellow jersey. In the event, it will be handed to his former teammate Oscar Pereiro of Spain. Landis earlier lamented: "Even if I'm proved innocent, my reputation is ruined."

Landis seeks millions to fund doping defence: 10/01/07
NEW YORK (AFP) - American cyclist Floyd Landis is seeking to raise two million dollars to fund a fight to clear his name of doping charges. Landis, who is expected to be stripped of the Tour de France yellow jersey for testing positive after the 2006 race, said the money is needed to cover legal fees and expenses in connection with his defence.