Podium Cafe - USADA report: Armstrong's demiseYou can check out, but you can never leavehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/25744/podiumcafe_f.png2012-10-22T08:34:33-04:00http://www.podiumcafe.com/rss/stream/33110152012-10-22T08:34:33-04:002012-10-22T08:34:33-04:00UCI confirms: Armstrong banned for life
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<figcaption>Harold Cunningham</figcaption>
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<p>In a press conference in Geneva today Pat McQuaid announced that the UCI has reviewed the USADA report and will not appeal their decision. Thereby they confirm the lifetime ban for Lance Armstrong and also that he will be stripped of all his seven Tour de France titles.</p> <p>In a pressconference that turned out to be very little about the actual USADA report and more a barrage of critical questions regarding the UCI's role in past and present anti-doping work, president McQuaid was initially very clear and convincing in his standpoint that he was shocked and disgusted with the extent of the USPS conspiracy and the lenghts riders had gone to in order to cheat the UCI and it's drugtesters.</p>
<p>Questions about the UCI's inability to deal with what was going on were fended off with the fact that they under the rules at the time were dependent on positive tests to act upon any riders. Their problem being that tests at the time were not as sophisticated as today and that riders and teams were clearly going to great lengths to cheat those tests. McQuaid also made clear that the UCI due to timepressures had so far only looked into the Armstrong parts of the USADA report and had not yet gotten to other riders and staff named in the report. That is to be handled later, in the case of some of the names he mentioned the possibility that they would be dealt with upon at the same time as the UCI looked into the coming report from the Padua investigation, where many of the same names are mentioned.</p>
<p>Pressed harder for some recognition that the UCI had failed on the job were re-buffed by an ever more flustred McQuaid. The answers were the same as ever before. There was no coverup of positive tests from the UCI, the money accepted from Armstrong had no connection to any such coverup, it was not wrong to accept donations from an athlete they were meant to police, the money was used to fight doping and was "put to good use". Also the UCI did not have the capacity to conduct police investigations and they did act upon the Landis-letters by making sure national federations looked into their people mentioned by Landis. In saying so he once again pointed out that they played a part in getting the USADA investigation started in the first place, something USADA have denied saying their investigation started before the UCI got involved.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p>
<p>Going forward McQuaid stated that a meeting of the UCI management committee on Friday would decide how to handle the practical matters of the USADA decision, what results would be affected, what to do with prizemoney etc. It would also discuss the wider ramifications of the report. What could be learned from it ? How are they to proceed with the other people mentioned in the report and so on. Sounded like kind of a lot to handle in one meeting. Perhaps they will reduce coffee-breaks to a bare minimum?</p>
<p>On the subject of the lawsuit against journalist Paul Kimmage, McQuaid did not back down even in the light of the USADA report. He refused to acknowledge the connection between the two things. According to him the lawsuit is a straight-forward defamation-suit based on Kimmage's repeated claims that the UCI is corrupt and had covered up positive test-results by Armstrong, something McQuaid once again denied was true. So the lawsuit is still very much on.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/22/3537708/the-uci-upholds-usada-decision-arrmstrong-bannedJens2012-10-21T18:32:48-04:002012-10-21T18:32:48-04:00Tom Boonen talks to Sporza about Lance, Levi, Cav
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<figcaption>Chris Graythen</figcaption>
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<p>Sporza got a chance to catch up with Tombo, as he drove a Ferrari halfway through Flanders. Don't worry, it was for charity. Leukaemia, in fact. The Borlée brothers were also there. Anyway. Sporza got a chance to catch up with Tombo, and they asked him some questions. On Cav, Levi, Lance and Rabo.</p> <h4>On Cav</h4>
<p>"For me, nothing changes. The races I ride now, or those where I sprint now, Mark probably won't sprint there. Mark's two main goals are the Giro and the Tour. And it's a huge advantage when you take a guy like him with you, that always brings a certain ambiance and schwung to the team when you can immediately win a few stages. He's the best sprinter I have ever seen, so it can only be a good thing for us."</p>
<p>In 2009, the two didn't really see eye to eye during MSR. Cavendish: "Crossing the line first was the second nicest point of the day. The first nicest point of today was passing Tom Boonen [he's gonna have work on that pronunciation] going backwards like a stone on the climb you know."</p>
<p>Tombo: "Mark is a guy who needs some confrontation to feel good. And you can tell, he never - or rarely - wins the early stages, like the first or the second stage. He always needs to be in a bit of scuffle with someone and then he can use that to charge himself up. And it wasn't different back then, he was still young and rash. And really, nothing happened. Just people asked me before the race who my favourites were, and I didn't mention him. And that was it. And that's what he used to draw energy from. A lovely story in the end, no? And if I can get him to do better, maybe he can get me to do better as well. Maybe it won't be so bad for me to have my nose right at the front of sprints again. In a bit of a better position than before, because you know if you've got Cavendish behind you then the others don't come battling for position. So it'll be fun for everyone."</p>
<h4>On Rabo</h4>
<p>"Rabo quitting, that's a sledgehammer blow for cycling. If you see that Rabobank quits after 17 years - I don't really care much about the rest. Everything else is just old information repackaged in a file. But if the sponsors start to drop out, like you see now... Finding new sponsors, that's gonna be incredibly difficult because there's a crisis, everywhere, and there's a crisis in cycling too. I think, replacing a sponsor like Rabobank, that's not gonna happen for the next 5 or 10 years."</p>
<p>Does he think more teams will follow? "I don't know. Rabobank was directly mentioned in the whole affair, their quitting has nothing to do with being grossed out by cycling. That wasn't the issue, it's just that they were compromised themselves. So, the teams that have nothing to do with this, I think it'd be real shame if they became the victim of all this."</p>
<p>"[Rabo calling the sport diseased and the situation hopeless] - I think that's a really, really stupid thing to say. And I got angry when I saw that. They've got a team, that team is super-duper ok. Filled with young talents, and I think it's a shame they don't give them the chance to prove themselves."</p>
<h4>On Levi and Lance<br>
</h4>
<p>"Levi's dismissal, that was only normal. And afterwards I read here and there that Levi had already told us everything, that's completely untrue. Alessandro* himself told me that Levi gave a big speech in the team bus, to say that all the allegations were false. And.. [shrug]. It was all a bunch of bullshit. So, [his being fired], that was only logical."</p>
<p>*I assume that's <span class="st">Alessandro Tegner, PR dude for OPQS.<br></span></p>
<p>"And all those things that now - you can't even say they see the light of day now - it's all old stuff that's being ruminated, that's all stuff from Armstrong's days. There's no new info here. And, pfff. In principal... What's that stuff got to do with us? It's not about the race any more. We keep having to talk about Armstrong, and everything that happened with him. Well maybe it'd be better if Lance himself were to talk about that stuff. I've never really been a fan of Armstrong, and definitely not after that first year I rode in the same team as him... But, because he won't clearly come out and say what went on, the issue just keeps going on. And it's been going on for so long. The only guy who can put an end to this, is Lance. He can't keep denying."</p>
<p>"Was it a big shock? Pff. Well. All the stuff that's come to light now, nothing about this is new. All this stuff has already been told, it's just put together in one big file now. And it's... USADA is also exaggerating. They're also pretending like they're the holiest business in the entire world right now, and they're also full of crap. "</p>
<h4>On Hein</h4>
<p>Specifically, on the allegations that Hein was bought. "It's a rotten world, isn't it? It's about time to clean that whole stinking mess gets cleaned up."</p>
<p>"And the weirdest thing about it all, [the 'new' peloton nowadays] doesn't have to change anything. Everything right now is going well, on the right path. The only thing we can do - and I've been thinking about this - is to give a 'live' account of everything. To have people follow us around 24/7. I don't know, if that's what it takes to win back our credibility. Because apparently that's the issue, right now the entire world has to see absolutely everything that goes in cycling, for the entire year. And then maybe they can start to believe again. And that's, just... I'm not gonna volunteer for that position though (laughs). But... It's terrible.</p>
<p>"I know for myself what I do for this sport - and what I don't do for this sport. And I have no problem at all if they take the cheats out of it. Well, the cheats were already out of the sport, that's the worst thing about this whole affair."</p>
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<p>If you understand Dutch or just wanna look at lovely scruffy Tombo, you can click <a href="http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_sportnieuws/MG_wielrennen/1.1463148" target="_blank">here</a>. Or <a href="http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_sportnieuws/MG_wielrennen/1.1463148" target="_blank">here</a>. That's the same link, but I like to give you options. Oh, even more videos <a href="http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/121021_tom_boonen" target="_blank">here</a>. That's actually a different link than the first two.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/21/3535398/tom-boonen-talks-to-sporza-about-lance-levi-cav-and-heintgsgirl2012-10-19T15:26:17-04:002012-10-19T15:26:17-04:00Cycling's Exorcism Begins
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<p>Sad to say, the upheaval rending the sport of pro cycling had to happen. </p> <p>It's tempting to say that today is a major milestone in the war against performance enhancing drugs in cycling. It's also worth placing it in a bit of perspective.</p>
<p>Earlier today, Rabobank announced that it is removing its brand from the sport, taking one of cycling's biggest and most loyal sponsors from the ranks of cycling. Since the mid-90s, the Dutch-based international banking firm sponsored a major men's team, one of the world's best development programs, and finally a women's pro team too. Now their action is just the latest and perhaps most relevant domino to fall since the USADA exposed once and for all the extent of doping practices in Lance Armstrong's US Postal squads.</p>
<p>Is this some kind of end game? It's always tempting to declare this. I am sure my voice was among those saying so after Operacion Puerto. Probably said the same thing in connection with the Biological Passport program. I might have even said it after the Festina Affair. Had I been paying attention in 1924 when the Pelissier brothers, <i>les Forçats de la Route,</i> were exposed by Le Petit Parisien for taking horse ointment, chloroform, cocaine and other stimulants, I would undoubtedly have said that it's good to put that behind us and move on.</p>
<p>At the risk of exposing once again my guileless nature, today actually does feel like a significant change. I have kids, and while I don't want to sound like yet another self-righteous parent, I can say at least that following through on one's threats is the key to difficult progress. Yell about them cleaning their room and they might react to shut you up, but it'll be a mess again tomorrow. Make good on a threat to cancel TV or dessert or whatever, and they'll remember.</p>
<p>So I was largely relieved when I woke up to the news about De Bank today. A few years ago they made it clear that another doping scandal would mean the end of the sponsorship. True, most or maybe all of their current roster appear to be innocent victims (or will be if and when the cycling unit really stops), but had they not made good on that threat, following the news about Barredo and Menchov, with perhaps other news waiting to be made public, the message would have been about what it is when you threaten to take away dessert but give in at the end, to avoid the crying.</p>
<p>Clearly cycling has trouble sending the right message. Here's a brief recent history of the overarching message (IMHO) that cycling has sent to the peloton:</p>
<p> </p>
<ul>
<li>Early 1990s: don't dope too much</li>
<li>Later 1990s: No really, don't dope (wink)</li>
<li>Post-Festina: Don't dope too much at the Tour</li>
<li>Lance years: Don't dope unless you can afford to do it right</li>
<li>Post-Puerto: Don't dope or you might be caught and expelled</li>
<li>Biological passport initial message: don't dope because we have sneaky ways of catching you</li>
<li>About a year or so later: OK, maybe we don't, but don't dope</li>
<li>Lance 2.0 years: Don't dope if you're not really famous</li>
<li>About two weeks ago: Don't dope because secrets are eventually meant to be told</li>
<li>Today: Don't dope or it might detonate your entire team</li>
</ul>
<p>That last one -- I say might, because Rabo is only one squad. But where is this going? Have Quick Step had enough? Not likely but perhaps. Have Astana? Katusha? Has Becco? Does <strike>Liquigas</strike> Cannondale have any limits to what it will tolerate? Is BMC getting nervous after Hincapie's outing? The dominoes just grew a few sizes today. Rabobank's action gives other sponsors permission to make a big statement of their own, or at least to cover their asse(t)s and be done with the mess.</p>
<p>I am not rooting for this to happen, at least not with my head, but in my heart I can see where this might go. This is looking like the root canal, as opposed to another filling. This is the part where you rip out the foundation, not just the boards where you can see the termites. This is shaping up to be a serious exorcism for the sport of cycling. Telling teams their entire structure is at risk -- <i>really </i>at risk -- could change how a potential doper weighs his choice. If you know that you will likely someday be caught, and 40 jobs will disappear as a result... well, a few psychopaths will be undeterred, but that should keep the temptation down.</p>
<p>What would help a lot is if it's not left to the teams to draw this line in the sand. Yes, that's an improvement over having just the testing agencies drawing the line, or the testers and the races -- all three forces can bring pressure. But at least some ultimate power still lies in the UCI, and if there is any one major element of the sport still holding out against progress, it is the tone-deaf stumblefucks hunkered down in their glass bubble in Aigle. I'm struggling to think of a metaphor that captures the breathtaking stupidity of suing whistleblowers while the sport is torn apart by doping scandals. The best I can come up with is the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi responding to foreign military threats by taking money from her navy and building a marble boat at the summer palace. Like the UCI's lawsuit against Paul Kimmage, a marble boat has only one destination: the bottom of the lake. But the fruitless use of resources in this manner is just as damaging, and pales next to the horrendous message coming from the whole rotten venture. I've long viewed Hein Verbruggen as the most cynical person in modern cycling, and regularly threatened to produce my alphabetical list of examples why the UCI is the least effective organization since the League of Nations. Now? If you told me that Dr. Ferrari was dealing EPO out of their parking garage, I wouldn't be terribly surprised.</p>
<p>Anyway, today is a new day. The path forward is going to get rough, but the purging of hypocrisy, particularly the staggering hypocrisy of tolerating remnants of the Armstrong regime, has to be good for the body of cycling.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/19/3526882/cyclings-exorcism-beginsChris Fontecchio2012-10-17T08:51:53-04:002012-10-17T08:51:53-04:00Lance Armstrong out from Nike, Livestrong
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<figcaption>Doug Pensinger - Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A week after the U.S. Doping Agency released a report rallying against Lance Armstrong, the cancer survivor stepped down as chairman of Livestrong and was dropped as an endorser by Nike.</p> <p>Lance Armstrong will step down as chairman of his Livestrong charity and Nike has dropped him as an endorser, according to reports.</p>
<p>Armstrong <a href="http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/other_sports/general/view/20121017lance_armstrong_stepping_down_as_livestrong_chairman/srvc=home&position=recent" target="_blank">announced the decision to step down as chairman</a> Wednesday. Armstrong will still be a member on the board.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"This organization, its mission and its supporters are incredibly dear to my heart," Armstrong said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. "Today therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nike <a href="http://nikeinc.com/press-release/news/nike-statement-on-lance-armstrong" target="_blank">released a statement Wednesday</a> regarding Armstrong:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him. Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.</p>
<p>Nike plans to continue support of the Livestrong initiatives created to unite, inspire and empower people affected by cancer.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Last week the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a extensive report on doping allegations against Armstrong and many of his teammates during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The purpose of the report, which contains sworn statements from witnesses and teammates, "was to show why USADA has banned him from cycling for life and ordered 14 years of his career results erased - including those Tour titles."</p>
<p><i>This story originally appeared at </i><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/cycling/2012/10/17/3515756/lance-armstrong-livestrong-nike">SB Nation</a><i>.</i></p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/17/3515814/lance-armstrong-livestrong-nikeMatt Conner2012-10-15T08:00:11-04:002012-10-15T08:00:11-04:00Analysis: USADA's Armstrong Decision
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<figcaption>Doug Pensinger, Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Evidence implicates Armstrong in doping, sheds light on team-wide doping system.</p> <p> </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">There can be no doubt now that Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs for the majority of his career.</p>
<p class="p1">Early accusations of drug use and evasion of doping positives was easy to write off - it was individuals who were disgruntled at best, infuriated at worst, with their sport and their former boss who tried to expose the dirty side of Armstrong's seven victories in the Tour de France. Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis were cast aside from the sport, disgraced by doping positives and suspensions. And why would they not be angry? In an era of the sport where common perception was most riders were dirty, they were among the few that suffered. Even with the help of performance enhancing drugs and blood transfusions they were unable to step out of the shadow of their former boss.</p>
<p class="p1">Some believed the charges levied against Armstrong. At first a minority, they are sure to face a role reversal as the world gains access to the evidence assembled by USADA in its investigation of Armstrong and four staff members of the US Postal and Discovery teams. Hamilton and Landis are joined by twenty four other individuals in testimony, nine of whom were teammates of Armstrong for part or all of his career. The degree to which uncoordinated testimonies intersect time and time again, converging in on specific details - days, phrases, techniques - can not be the result of mere chance.</p>
<p class="p1">This is the bulk of the USADA case against Armstrong. The report mentions early on that even without supporting scientific evidence, the strength of testimonies would be sufficient to declare a non-analytical positive for using prohibited substances. A list below details some of the evidence. Though far from complete, it indicates the level of detail that was independently corroborated by individuals testifying independent of each other.</p>
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1">At the 1998 World Championships road race, Lance's wife Kristin Armstrong wrapped cortisone tablets in foil for riders on the United States team to take during the race. Numerous riders recounted how they joked about Kristin "rolling blunts."</li>
<li class="li1">Lance Armstrong received blood transfusions and other drugs on numerous occasions where more than two teammates witnessed the process. In one instance, several riders detailed how a team doctor snuck saline solution past a drug tester into a hotel room and gave Armstrong a transfusion of the liquid in order to lower his hematocrit prior to his drug test.</li>
<li class="li1">Italian doctor Michele Ferrari wrote training plans for clients that included specific instructions on when to take doses of various performance enhancing substances. A dot on a day indicated the rider was to inject 500iu EPO intravenously while a circle indicated an injection of 1,000iu EPO. Even riders who never rode on the teams investigated gave affidavits including this information.</li>
<li class="li1">Lance Armstrong continued to work with Michele Ferrari after 2004 despite public assertions he discontinued work with the doctor due to doping controversy. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p1">Should testimony not be sufficient to convince the UCI and bystanders that Armstrong doped, USADA brings further evidence to bear that <i>corroborates </i>the stories told by those testifying, though the additional evidence only serves as a supporting role. Samples taken during the 1999 Tour de France tested positive for EPO, though the lab doing the re-testing failed to perform a B-test so the results were not sufficient to act on. Armstrong's blood values from 2009-2010 showed evidence of blood transfusions; an expert in blood testing put the odds of Armstrong's fluctuations of reticulocyte and plasma volume happening naturally given the training and racing he was undergoing at less than one in a million. Financial records link Armstrong with Ferrari from 1998-2005 and during his comeback in 2009-2010, shedding doubt on the claim that their suspicious partnership ended in 2004. The intersection of physical, financial, and eyewitness evidence makes the case much more than the sum of its parts.</p>
<p class="p1"><b><i>More than just one man</i></b></p>
<p class="p1">Though the evidence against Armstrong that erases doubt that he did use illegal substances is important, the significance of the whole case extends much further than one individual. The testimonies bring focus to the two biggest threats to clean riding: culture and structure. One shapes human behavior passively, the other actively and with much more force. Both were clearly in place in the US Postal and Discovery teams.</p>
<p class="p1">During the period in question, some doctors and other staff members of teams were passive supporters of the doping culture in the sport. They would answer questions, perhaps provide doping supplies if asked or at least give directions on how to acquire them. The decision was left to the rider and other riders and staff members played a permissive role. US Postal trainer Jose "Pepe" Martin continued to sell EPO and other drugs to Levi Leipheimer after he left the team to ride for Rabobank and then Gerolsteiner. Lance suggested Hincapie and Andreau work with Dr. Ferrari because he wanted them to do better, to break through the barriers they felt they had reached. He opened the door but did not push them through it.</p>
<p class="p1">Others, however, pushed riders towards doping. Team doctor Garcia del Moral would at times refuse to tell riders what they were being injected with. Christian Vande Velde was threatened with a contract non-renewal if he did not fully comply with the doping program Ferrari gave him. Tom Danielson was convinced he needed to dope and then had access to more effective doping practices held over his head in contract renewal negotiations with Bruyneel. If Danielson did not sign a contract worth less than likely offers from other teams, he would not get access to blood transfusions in the Vuelta, undermining his ability to perform on an even playing field as his competition and receive good contract offers. The playing field was never equal, nor could it be. The best paid got the best access and doctors and managers played favorites. Pull you in, push you in, and then manipulate you.</p>
<p class="p2">There is always a choice to dope or not. Going home in the face of doping is a choice - one that was embraced by riders like Adam Meyerson and Tim Johnson. Every individual who testified made the choice to compromise sporting or even personal values to compete at the highest level and no protestations about a culture of doping or structures that pushed it on riders will diminish the importance of their individual choices. But the bigger issue at stake here is that institutions that make doping part of the structure of a team - as was the case with US Postal - make that choice seem near invisible. The risks appear mitigated or at least shifted towards the team. When a manager pushes his riders to dope, he signals that the risk of detection is low, that he does not fear it, that the benefits far outweigh the potential costs. Compounded with a seemingly corrupt governing body, the decision to dope seems obvious.</p>
<p class="p1">This fact is why the USADA case survived, why the effort many think was merely put into shedding light on one individuals' transgressions is more than that. Through the investigation of not only Lance Armstrong but also the other five US Postal and Discovery staff members, USADA has shone a bright flashlight into sordid the depths of the teams it could investigate. We see that Bruyneel's perspectives on doping were shaped by his time doping on the ONCE team and the experience he gained there. The way doping practices are passed on through riders and staff over and over is all too clear. But the greatest danger we now see is that experience and acceptance of doping paired with a manic desire to succeed at all costs can leave such a stain upon the sport and personal lives.</p>
<p class="p1"><b>The Road Forward</b></p>
<p class="p1">Some may think only a purge of all those who doped in the past will eradicate whatever culture and structure supporting doping today exists. Others will point at the work of Jonathan Vaughters, who now runs a program committed to clean cycling and eradicating the choice of doping for all riders who pass through the program, and other reformed individuals. Sorting the spoiled apples from the good is no easy task for they all look the same on the outside.</p>
<p class="p1">While we debate where to go from here, the release of USADA's decision is already having far-reaching effects. Bruyneel has been released from his position as manager of the Radioshack - Nissan team. Leipheimer, Vande Velde, and Zabriskie will all serve suspensions, though their cooperation with the investigation has resulted in shortened ones that will run most of their course over the off season. Results are being stripped from riders who confessed to doping. Ferrari, who was working with numerous riders until just recently, has received a lifetime ban from working in the sport. Matt White, a member of the Orica-GreenEdge management, has stepped down after Floyd Landis' testimony indicated he was among the US Postal riders who used banned drugs with himself and Armstrong.</p>
<p class="p1">White's future is yet to be determined and he may return to a management role on the team, but his recent history shows the perils teams and riders face. As part of the management of Slipstream Sports and Vaughter's team, White sent a rider to former USPS doctor del Moral for a Vo2 test and blood work. Though it is likely no harm came of the encounter and it is doubtful White had any intention of promoting anything but clean riding, it shows that the links between riders and the individuals who once helped them dope are hard to break. Merely working with a doctor who once participated in such a wide reaching doping conspiracy always risks a rider receiving bad advice and being lured towards the dark side.</p>
<p class="p1">Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of the USADA case is the knowledge we have gained that can help keep young riders clear of potentially dangerous influences. A second benefit is shedding light on the truth, embracing it for all of its unsavoriness and using it to show the world the way forward. Calling these events a sea change in the sport is likely too dramatic, but progress is being made. And will continue.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/15/3494756/analysis-usadas-armstrong-decisionDouglas Ansel2012-10-12T18:32:16-04:002012-10-12T18:32:16-04:00Volodymyr Bileka speaks - In English
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<p>Overleaf is a translation of Volodymyr Bileka's statement as found in The Lance Files. I think it's reasonably accurate, but don't bet any of your own money on it. </p> <p>I've known Yaroslav Popovych since I was a child, since we were born and grew up in the same village in Ukraine. We began our cycling careers together right back to the junior and student levels, first in Ukrainian teams, then in the 1999-2000 season we went up to the amateur U23s with the Italian team Gravellona Toce which was based in the town of that name. Upon arrival in Italy my and Popovych's paths separated since he joined the Ukraine National track team which actually trained in Italia, in Covo in Lombardia. However with me in the Gravellona Toce team there were other Ukrainian lads that arrived around that time, four of us to be precise. I rode in that team for a year and a half, and then I moved to Societa Vellutex, where Popovych had already been for a year. Vellutex was directed by Olivano Locatelli and had two team houses, one at Carate Brianza and one at Olmi di Quarrata, and we continually moved between these two places according to where there were races. I stayed with Popovych at Vellutex up to 2003 when we both turned professional with Lambowcredit Colnago. <br><br>We both stayed with that team for three years then moved together in 2005 to the US team Discovery Channel. Our procuratore Fabio Perego took care of our engagement. I would like to say that as far as I am concerned I never had anything to do with doping before I joined Colnago. I would like to say that since it was my destiny to always be bound to what Popovych was worth, since the teams that employed me did so thaks to him and on his request, I started to feel uncomfortable in that I wanted to show that I too could prove my worth given that up to the point we left Ukraine I had always been the stronger of the two of us, and I should not thus be thought of just as Popovych's friend. Over time this feeling grew worse in me, because during the first two team camps, in December 2005 in Austin Texas, where team captain Lance Armestrong lived, and in January, once more in the United States, but this time in California, at Solvank if I recall rightly, I saw that the team was riding very strongly. I therefore decided at that time to ask Popovych how I could manage to ride equally strongly and if he knew anyone who could help me. I would like to say that at this time I already suspected that Popovych was making use of the services of Michele Ferrari, even if I had no proof of it, since we had an agreement between ourselves to not ask questions, but to wait until the matters came to be spoken of at a time of the other's choosing. Finally, after several tries, he persuaded himself to speak to me about Ferrari, saying that the two of them had already discussed me. He told me that the doctor was hesitant to take me into his care, since he was not convinced of my value to him, either sportingly or financially since he had been told by Yaroslav how much my contract was worth, and at the time I earned only 50,000 dollars a year. He had however agreed to assess me with a test and to then decide. The first time he made me go to his house in Ferrara, I don't remember the address, Popovych told me how to get there. I remember that it was a villa just outside the town, surrounded by farmland, and that if you drove past quickly you could easily miss it. As far as I remember this happened I the interval between the two team camps I previously spoke about, probably towards the end of December 2005. He tested me in a garage in the basement, where he had fitted out a small gymnasium with a fitting to attach a bicycle which was itself attached to a roller which took measurements more or less like a SRM. On that occasion he also weighed me and measured my body fat. To tell the truth he had a really strange fixation with fat, and the first time he saw me he looked at me a little strangely. Perhaps I was a bit too fat. I remember that he took notes on a piece of card in his hand. We spoke a bit about my characteristics as a rider, and he took care to learn about my way of life in general, where I lived etc. In particular he asked me to confirm how much I earned. Finally he told me that he would have to study the results of the tests and that he would let me know via Popovych. The first time I didn't give him money. The first time he didn't give me a phone number to contact him. <br><br>During the second camp, in California, I asked Popovych if he had any news from Ferrari but he answered no. Meanwhile during that second camp we were given our racing calendar for the season. After returning to Italy Popovych told me that I had to go back to Ferrari to retake the test, adding that it was probable that being recalled was a good sign that he had accepted me. He also told me that I should take my racing programme with me. After a short time, about a month from the first appointment, I thus returned to Ferrara. I don't remember if I went alone or with Popovych. The doctor invited me once more inside the very house in which he lived, repeated the test on me, measuring my weight and body fat to see if I had made an effort to lose weight. Then he looked at the programme of races that I was to do and told me that in his opinion I was not bad and that I could become a good rider, but that in order to continue to work with him, in view of my salary, would cost 10,000 Euro a year. I tried at first to ask him if he could come down a bit because I couldn't afford it. He said that he could help me a bit since I was a friend of Popovych, but that if I paid less then he would spend less time with me. Also during this second meeting Dr Ferrari nade no mention of any banned treatment, limiting himself to evaluating the parameters of the test, and explaining those test values to me as physical efforts and thresholds. Based upon these results, Ferrari produced for me a training table, giving me instructions on how to eat to lose weight. The table was for a period of fifteen days, one month before a race in the Algarve, Portugal, at the end of February 2006. <br><br>I don't remember if Popovych took part in that event, and for me the race wasn't particularly brilliant, since I fatigued on the climbs and passed the race in the service of my team. Then followed a few races in preparation for the Belgian classics, and I think I went back to Dr Ferrari some time after having taken part in a few of these during March. Also at this third meeting took place once more at his home in Ferrara. Dr Ferrari subjected me once more to tests, explained the results, and prepared another training plan. I remember however that he was satisfied with the improvement, and I certainly felt much better, bearing in mind also that I was climbing with more agility, and in training I was more precise regarding the effort and the watts to produce. I have to say that for the first two years Ferrari continued to work on training plans. I remember that he advised me to go to training camps, usually at altitude, and particularly, during the winter at Teide in the Canary Islands, on the Volcano, where we always slept at the Hotel Parador in Teide, 2,200 metres above sea level. In the hotter weather however, these camps took place at Livigno. Usually during these times the doctor would make his appearance, often without prior announcement. Popovych took part in these camps with me. At other times there were other cyclists with us, both professional, and on occasion amateur. I remember meeting Pellizzotti, Gasparotto, often Bertolini, and at least once Leonardo Bertagnolli, Filippo Pozzato, in the last year Garzelli and the three Masciarelli brothers, Roman Kreuziger. Luis Leon Sanchez and another Spaniard from Casse d'Epargne whose name I can't remember right now, a tall, strong man who we met at St Moritz when we rode to meet him at his hotel near the Athletics track where many athletes were training. At St Moritz I also met Morris Possoni. I'd like to make it clear that when we were in the Canaries, all the riders slept at the Parador, so it was easier to see who was there. At Livigno we happened to meet while out and about in the town or on the roads where we trained. I would also like to add that at Teide the doctor was right in the hotel where he could move around without trouble, and he had a room reserved to meet athletes. Michele Ferrari never spoke to two cyclists at the same time. That was also true of me and Popovych - when he worked with one of us the other always had to wait outside. His road tests of course could be carried out on more riders simultaneously, as happened to me with Popovych, Possoni, and Gasparotto. And so it's impossible for me to say what happened with each one of his clients beyond this part of the test. When the training camp was at Livigno he never came across the border to meet cyclists; meetings always happened on the Swiss side. For me personally he always arranged appointments along the climbs that you can find in a radius of around 30 km from St Moritz. On just two occasions he asked me to go to an apartment near St Moritz. I remember that you got there via Silvaplana, then turned left over the bridge that crossed the lake. The house itself, I don't know if he owned it, was in a small village after the bridge about 800 metres up the hill, then turn left. When I went to the house in Switzerland I was always alone. Of his family, I met his wife at Ferrara but we never spoke, while Michele was accompanied several times at Teide by his son Stefano. The amateur cyclists that we happened across didn't know him. I can only talk of one occasion at Teide where there was an Englishman that I knew was a sponsor from a supplement company - gels and bars - I don't remember if they sponsored Astana or CSC. Another time, again at Teide, I remember there was an amateur cyclist from Ferrara, maybe Antonio but I'm not sure, I remember that he was short, skinny, in his fifties. All I can say is that the amateurs usually were taken care of by his son Stefano. Michele told me that his son did not live with him in Ferrara but was permanently abroad, usually in Monte Carlo. Several times his daughter Sara took part in the camps at Teide, giving massages to those such as the amateurs who didn't have their own masseuse with them. <br><br>I believe that Ferrari had a deeper relationship with Vinokourov because he was always present at all the training camps in Teide, and I met him at times in Livigno too. Together with him I saw Kloden, Kachechkin, and another German from Astana, Kessler, who was found positive for testosterone. I never saw Kloden and Kessler speak with Ferrari. Both at Teide and at Livigno I saw on many occasions Vladimir Gusev. As I've said, during those first two years Michele Ferrari didn't say much to me, and I asked Popovych about it, especially considering that others were riding much more strongly, leading me to doubt that I was receiving the same treatment. In 2007 things took a turn on the occasion of the umpteenth test that I took near Bologna, around Rioveggio. I remember that I left the autostrada at Casello di Rioveggio, passed under the bridge then turned left and headed uphill towards Monzuno for several kilometres. I'll make it clear that it was not the first time that I went to this area for the test, which Ferrari only carried out at home when it was too cold and he was not on a training camp. He habitually used the region of the Appennines above Bologna at other times, when time and temperature permitted it. This time the appointment was at an agriturismo run by a family that Ferrari trusted. I got out of the car and began the test on a climb while he followed in a grey station wagon, maybe an Audi but I'm not sure. After the test he showered in a room in the agriturismo, then we spoke in the same room. Michele Ferrari saw my race programme then began to make calculations and mutter to himself. Then using a pencil but without writing anything, just pointing, he showed several race periods on the calendar, and periods between one race and the next, and expressly said to me that if I wanted to rider better I would have to take "E", making clear upon my questioning but always in a low voice that he was talking about EPO. He asked me if I knew how to get hold of it for myself, but never offered to get it himself for me. I said that I could sort it out, which I then did, getting it in Ukraine in the form of a bottle labelled Eretrostin, at least that's what it said in Cyrillic, that you can find in the supplement shops that bodybuilders frequent. I used EPO in that form according to the instructions given me by Michele Ferrari from 2007 up to spring 2008 when after a surprise drug test at my home in Quarrata I tested positive for said EPO. I believe that they could only get me that way since among the instructions given to me by Ferrari were included periods to stop taking the drug before races and thus avoid tsting positive. With regard to payment, the tariff always remained 10,000 Euro a year and because I had money troubles I always paid very late. I believe that this was the cause of the low attantion that the doctor paid to me. I always paid cash and never received any sort of receipt. I admit that I was always aware that to frequent Dr Ferrari was risky, but I decided nevertheless to run that risk for the reasons that I have said at the beginning, and because I could get an improvement in my financial situation with a better contract that would have allowed me to live better and to send a bit of cash home to my parents. <br><br>I would finally like to tell you that this morning, after learning from you that the judicial authorities were interested to hear my statement, I discussed with my wife Sara that it would be right to speak of this with my friend Yaroslav Popovych, to whom I am linked like a brother, because I'm aware that telling the truth would mean bringing in his name, and that would be very uncomfortable for me. Together with my wife I decided to call him on his phone number 3473424300, using my wife Sara's mobile phone, number 349/2806891. We did this at 11:35, deciding to ask him for a meeting because it didn't seem to us that it was appropriate to discuss it on the telephone. We used the idea of suggesting a meeting tomorrow at Milan Malpensa airport, where I have to go to leave for China, flying via Moscow, at 12:10. After the 11:35 phone call made by my wife, I received on my mobile phone 3293875795 barely a few minutes later a call from Popovych, in which he seemed to be much changed in my opinion, since he hadn't accepted the fact that my wife had offered to give some clothes to his son Jason, given the fact that he had been separated from his wife for about a year. At that point, speaking in Ukrainian, he asked me directly if there were any other problems, and in answer I replied with deliberate hesitation, clearly, and still in Ukrainian, that I wanted to make him a present of a few model Ferrari cars, believing that at that point he would be able to understand what the real reason for the call was. Popovych stayed silent for a few seconds, then I believe he understood the problem and asked me if they had been asking questions about him too. At this point, rather sharply, and with a hasty word or two of the "see you tomorrow" type I ended the conversation. My wife had listened in on the call because she understands Ukrainian a little. At 11:50 Popovych called me again on my mobile phone, suggesting that we meet the next morning on the autostrada, and to ring him around nine to confirm the meeting place. I have nothing else to add. I confirm that from now onwards I am available to conform my statements anywhere.</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/12/3495546/volodymyr-bileka-speaks-in-englishMonty.2012-10-12T13:58:39-04:002012-10-12T13:58:39-04:00Obvious Decision is Obvious: Bruyneel Out at Shack
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<p>After USADA details doping plans, Johan Bruyneel's career as a Directeur Sportif is over</p> <p>By "mutual agreement," Team Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek and Johan Bruyneel parted ways today, according to a team press release. The statement left no doubt why, citing the USADA findings, released earlier this week, which detailed the extensive and coordinated doping that went on under Bruyneel's supervision as Directeur Sportif of the US Postal and Discovery Channel teams.</p>
<p>In the USADA report, Bruyneel is cited by name 129 times and is accused of being at the center of the sophisticated doping regime that propelled Lance Armstrong and US Postal/Discovery to a record seven Tour de France wins. Those wins have all been vacated (and not to be reassigned, according to Tour de France director Christophe Prudhomme), and the entire Armstrong-led project has been torn down to its foundation this week by the USADA's very detailed, corroborated and convincing allegations.</p>
<p>Bruyneel's fate has been the subject of speculation throughout the process, as many observers have been waiting to see how deep the scandal ran. Fabian Cancellara was known to harbor some doubts about continuing under Bruyneel's direction, a sentiment he expressed after the report came out. As to the report, it came as no surprise to many that Bruyneel was deeply implicated, as details of the doping regime's sophistication came to light. For Bruyneel's future in the sport, the final publication of the USADA report was fatal.</p>
<p>And the problems for Bruyneel don't stop there. The Belgian cycling federation has said it will review the case now, as the dossier progresses from an American investigation and media reports to an official evidentiary file. If found guilty of any infractions of Belgian anti-doping codes (of which there is roughly a 100% chance), Bruyneel faces penalties from his home federation of a suspension or lifetime expulsion.</p>
<p>Reactions from his former squad range from Cancellara's criticism to Andy Schleck stating that what happens to Bruyneel is his problem. No doubt though, there must be tremendous relief on the current roster of riders, given that the alternative of Bruyneel continuing while battling the UCI and/or the Belgian Federation was a nightmare scenario. At a minimum, Bruyneel's presence would distract attention from anything happening on the road, and at worst his presence would raise suspicions about the current riders' "preparations," already a problem with Frank Schleck sidelined after the banned diuretic Xipamide turned up in a urine sample during the 2012 Tour de France.</p>
<p>For many fans, Bruyneel's continued presence was always an issue, and his departure closes another ugly chapter in cycling lore. After this week, Bruyneel's supporters probably don't extend beyond his immediate family and the Armstrong legal team. Good riddance, Johan.</p>
<p><b>Update! </b>Bruyneel issues a statement:</p>
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<p>I have decided to step back from my official team activities in order to concentrate on my defence, and in order to shield the RadioShack - Nissan - Trek cycling team from unnecessary distractions.</p>
<p>I am surprised and extremely disappointed that USADA released information in the public domain relating to their pending case against me before I had been given any opportunity to review the evidence and provide my defence against it. I still hope to be able to defend myself in a forum free from bias, although I now fear that USADA’s calculated action may have irreversibly prejudiced my case. It is a troubling facet of USADA’s approach to this case that it appears not to respect basic principles such as the right to be heard and the presumption of innocence.</p>
<p>I hope everyone will understand that in order to preserve the integrity of the on-going legal proceedings, I cannot unfortunately make any further comment for the time being. Once again, I would like to thank all of those who have reached out to me offering their support in these difficult days – it is very much appreciated.</p>
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<p>Yes, those many voices in his head which are saying "You might as well win Johan! You might as well win!"</p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/12/3494230/obvious-decision-is-obvious-bruyneel-out-at-shackChris Fontecchio2012-10-12T11:33:37-04:002012-10-12T11:33:37-04:00Bertagnolli speaks - In English
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<p>Below is my translation of Leonardo Bertagnolli's statement as found in the appendices to the Lance Files. Make of it what you will, and don't assume that it's totally accurate if you want to use it for any other purpose than sniggering and throwing doughnuts at dopers.</p> <p>I began as an amateur in 2000 with Bruno Leali. In 2001 I moved to Team San Pellegrino, run by Secondo Volpi, and in 2002 I turned professional, riding for three years at Saeco, when they also employed Simoni, Di Luca and Celestino. Following that, from 2005 I was employed by Cofidis, in 2007 and 2008 I was at Liquigas alongside Pellizzotti, Pozzato, Nibali and Di Luca. In 2009 I moved to Amica Chips, run by Mori Simone (which collapsed in mid 2009), then from May 2009 I moved to Gianni Savio's Androni Giocattoli. At the start of 2011 I moved to Lampre ISD.<br><br>I got to know Michele Ferrari during the first years of my professional career when I rode for Saeco. I don't remember who, but someone gave me the Doctor's number, and I booked an appointment to take just one test at his home in Ferrara. I believe it was in 2002, but I don't recall precisely the year. On that occasion he said nothing to me about taking drugs, nor advised me on banned practices. I went back to Ferrari at the end of 2006, when I had a contract with Liquigas for the next year.<br><br>I have suffered from a thyroid problem from 1997, when I was still a boy and what I was an amateur cyclist.<br><br>At the end of 2006 when I had thyroid troubles I thought to go back to Dr Ferrari to resolve the problems that were coming from my thyroid dysfunction. I asked the Liquigas personnel (Amadio, Corsetti) for permission to visit Ferrari to take care of my problems, and no-one opposed my decision. I telephoned Ferrari at his home and made an appointment. During the first appointment I set out my health problems to Ferrari and asked if he could help me. Ferrari replied that given that he knew that I rode for Liquigas there were no problems in me using him. In that situation he said to me that the preparatore "must know the athlete and adjust his aim". It was a clear observation and I understood at once its meaning. I state that from then I went periodically to Ferrari also because in 2007 I had the endorsement from Liquigas. During that meeting with Ferrari we agreed a payment of 12.000 Euro a year for his services, payable in instalments. Of those instalments I paid only a fraction of around 3,000 Euro (I don't remember exactly), since in March I had some sort of viral problem with my heart and I stayed inactive until July 2007. I state however that from the beginning of 2007 I presented myself at Monzuno to take the tests, making contact via his Swiss number, which he gave me at the first meeting at the end of 2006. In the camper where we met to do the tests, Ferrari had a haemoglobin meter to test haemoglobin. Every time in the tests done on subsequent occasions he tested my haemoglobin. At the time of the tests he drew me up a training chart, weighed me, and made an assessment of my overall health.<br><br>When I returned to training after my heart problems, I went to Ferrari at St Moritz together with Bertolini, Francesco Moser's cycling nephew, Gasparotto, Pellizzotti, Chicchi and several others from other teams. Many of them came from Livigno. I state that in 2006 I went to Livigno of my own accord for training, and there I saw Ferrari with a group of cyclists, among whom was Vinokourov. On the occasion of July 2007, after my sickness, I went as stated to St Moritz and spoke with Ferrari about taking EPO. Ferrari told me to take it in small doses, 1000 UI per day intravenously. "With 1000 you go up, with 500 it's stable," he said. I stayed at St Moritz for 10 days and for 10 days I took EPO as I had been shown by Ferrari. I did as Ferrari advised me, taking Eprex and stopping two or three days before a race. I don't remember exactly for how many days I took EPO, but certainly no less than 7. For sure I had seen Ferrari even before I went to St Moritz, and for sure he advised me on how to take EPO that I [preventivamente mi] had obtained through a one-time amateur cyclist from Brescia by the name of Manuel Bresciani, who I know at San Pellegrino in 2001. I started to take EPO following the advice of Filippo Manelli in 2003, and he showed me to take it sub-cutaneously on the stomach, stopping one week before the race. Ferrari didn't start me on EPO, but simply showed me a different way of taking it with regard to Manelli. So when I went to Ferrari I already knew the substance, that it was forbidden, and what its effects were. I remember that effectively my haematocrit changed 4-5 percentage points. Endocrinologists I have heard explained to me that the effect of this changes would be due to my thyroid dysfunction, since even in that period where I was taking nothing I continued to have changes in haematocrit.<br><br>In contrast to what Filippo Manelli had said, Michele Ferrari explained better to me th eway of taking EPO to not be caught positive. While Manelli had told me to take it in the stomach area, subcutaneously, and advised me to stop a week before the race, Michele Ferrari and his method of taking precise measured doses intravenously gave the possibility of taking it up to two or three days before the race, and benefiting from a greater period of effect.<br><br>In 2007 I won at San Sebastian and at other small races, and took some good placings.<br><br>Following this I suppose that I went back again to Ferrari, given that he lived near me. I remember that at on time in 2007 I saw Popovych and Bileka at Ferrari's house. I state that speaking with other members of the Liquigas team I learned that Pellizzotti went to Ferrari at Monzano. I know that many of my colleagues from Liquigas went to Ferrari because we spoke of it among ourselves, and the team itself was aware: Pellizzotti, Kreuziger, Gasparotto, Chicchi. Doing Ferrari's tests alongside me I sometimes saw Pellizzotti, Gasparotto and Possoni. At the end of his test, we went into his camper one at a time and the examinations were done personally, without the others present.<br><br>Between 2007 and 2008 we turn to talk of other things. In 2007 the whereabouts requirements (Adams protocol) came out, and thus there was a chance of being found positive for EPO, hence Dr Ferrari advised me to transfuse my own blood, the "in and out" that we speak about in the interception dated 27-08-2010. Before Ferrari's advice I had never done a blood transfusion. I don't recall exactly where Ferrari explained to me for the first time how to transfuse. I remember that he explained the details of the method, saying to get hold of the special bags via veterinary channels. I got the first ones from Manuel Bresciani. He told me to withdraw between 350 and 500cc, depending on recovery time and my objectives. He told me to knot the bag and to weigh it on scales so that I would know the weight, and hence the amount withdrawn. Before inserting the needle he told me to make a knot in the tube and after that to begin the withdrawal. When the right quantity was reached the tube would be blocked by the clips and the knot would tighten. I did it two or three time because I was afraid that it would get infected. Once the bag was filled he advised to keep it in a Liebherr fridge (a hospital fridge) at a controlled temperature of between 2 and 4 degrees. Ferrari showed me the type of fridge to buy, pointing it out on a leaflet. I myself took care of finding a supplier and bought the fridge in the province of Ravenna, It was Ferrari also who showed me the temperature for preservation of the blood.<br><br>Ferrari also advised me as to the timing of blood transfusions, saying to draw the blood before going to altitude and to reinfuse it upon my return, hence to better explain the phase shifts of the parameters, haematocrit, reticulocytes, etc.<br><br>Before this meeting with Ferrari I had never done blood transfusions. It was he who showed me the way as I have said above, and even so the first time I was afraid of doing it.<br><br>I began that practice in 2008 and did it just one time in the summer because in that time Liquigas forbade me from going to Ferrari, in a change of attitude to their previous tolerance of the visits.<br><br>The first time that I withdrew blood and put it back according to the methodology that Ferrari had shown was in August 2008 for the races that month. I reinfused the blood about 20 days after I had withdrawn it. Ferrari told me that the blood should be reinfused after approximately 20 days and after a period at altitude.<br><br>In 2009 I did one bag before the Giro del Trentino. That year I won a stage at the Giro d'Italia. I did a couple of bags in the summer of 2009 in preparation for the final part of the season. In 2010 I did my first bag before the Trittico Lombardo, the second before the Gran Premi odi Camaiore (as reported in the interception daterd 27-08-2010) and the third before the Giro di Lombardia.<br><br>I saw Michele Ferrari at the end of the 2010 season. Knowing of the investigation into Popovych, he told me to throw everything away because there was a risk of searches. The last time I saw Ferrari he advised me that as an alternative to the traditional bags I should use PP (polypropylene) bags that are hard to find in transfusion centres, or to decant the blood into a glass phial that had just been emptied. I remember that at that meeting in November 2010 I advised him that that situation seemed to me to be extremely dangerous with the possibility of contaminating the blood and a risk of clots.<br><br>It was Ferrari who first told me that you could find the bags easily through veterinary channels because they weren't controlled and the product was the same.<br><br>Filippo Manelli advised me on taking GH, in particular Geref which I only took a few times on account of its incompatibility with my thyroid problems. Manelli knew about my thyroid problems when I saw him between 2003 and 2006. Nevertheless he advised me to use GH (I don't remember the brand) and other hormones. I only took th ehormones that Manelli advised me to a few times on account of its incompatibility with my condition. Manelli advised me on drugs in his private studio in Gavardo. I paid Manelli for both the consultations and the drugs.<br><br>I began to take Testis della Guna in August 2010 on the advice of Michele Ferrari. I took it as he advised me "half a phial on the shoulder". In his camper Ferrari sometimes gave me also an unlabelled phial of a substance that he didn't tell me what it was, telling me to put it on my shoulder, that it wasn't dope, and that it wouldn't harm me. He never revealed to me what was in that phial for which I paid 80 Euro cash.<br><br>In 2010 I paid Ferrari around 3000 Euro in cash. In 2009 I paid little because I rode for Simone Mori's Amica Chips, which collapsed and didn't pay my salary.<br><br>I have nothing else to add.<br></p>
https://www.podiumcafe.com/2012/10/12/3493598/bertagnolli-speaks-in-englishMonty.