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30 June 2006

1 July News ...

Valverde Talks about Sevilla and Ullrich Withdrawal

The Green Bullet, Alejandro Valverde, was slowed down as he entered the Tour de France press conference for his team, Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears. The Spaniard was given the news that his old buddy, Oscar Sevilla, had been stopped from competing in the Tour by T-Mobile. The German team asked Sevilla and team leader, Jan Ullrich, to go home and not compete in the 93rd Tour de France.

The mood was very somber for the start of the conference. All of the questions posed were based upon the Spanish doping investigation and the implications on the Tour de France. Valverde, joined by Team DS Eusebio Unzúe, did his best to understand the controversial affair unfolding.

You came to the Tour, dreaming about winning. Is this news difficult for you to digest? "Yes it is a very strange Tour," said the 26 year-old Spaniard, on the Tour that is set to depart with a 7.1K prologue, Saturday in Strasbourg. "It is strange to have such problems before the Tour. I came here with a dream for the Tour and I will keep the same dream... But this is strange."

Along with Ullrich and Sevilla, Spanish officials have given a long list of names of riders seized during Operación Puerto. The implications are huge, with other riders, like Ivan Basso listed.

"You just told me the news, right now, it is very strange," Valverde continued. "I just heard entering this the room. Sevilla is one of my best friends and Ullrich is a big champion. You just told me so I don't know what my true feelings are yet." But are you surprised? "It is not normal. I don't know a lot about this stuff. I know what we read in the paper and see on TV."

Valverde's name has not been drawn into the investigations. The talent Spaniard seems slightly stressed by the affairs but still has an overall calm demeanor.

Are you afraid for yourself? "No. I am ok. Personally, I know I am fine. I want to concentrate on the Tour. It will be difficult. ... If I had a solution to this problem I would certainly give it. Cycling is bigger than all of this. It is not the end."

Do you think you will have better chances without Ullrich? "Yes. Without Ullrich it will be very different. It was normally T-Mobile to control the race and now it will completely different. ..."

Operación Puerto: The Dismissed Tour Riders

Sergio Paulinho, Isidro Nozal, Allan Davis, Alberto Contador, Joseba Beloki (All Astaná-Würth), Francisco Mancebo (Ag2R Prévoyance), Ivan Basso (Team CSC), Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla (both T-Mobile) are the Tour de France riders that were listed in the documents received by the UCI from Spanish investigators in regards to Operación Puerto.

The Tour de France, based on the backing of the UCI and UPTC (UCI ProTour Council), dismissed these riders from the start of the 93rd Tour de France. The nine riders, five from Astaná-Würth, will not take part in the Tour when it begins in Strasbourg on 1 July. They were all listed in documents coming out of Spain in the ongoing Operación Puerto and the riders will be the subject of future investigations.

The exclusion dismantles a large portion of the Astaná-Würth team, and leaves Ag2R Prévoyance, T-Mobile and Team CSC without their star riders. Alexander Vinokourov will face a hard battle to win the Maillot Jaune with little team support but then he has lost two of his major rivals. Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich were set to be the two major contenders of this years race and they are now gone in a mist of confusion. Their teams will seek to have a new direction and leader over the coming week.

Operación Puerto and the damage to the Tour de France is very much like 1998, when the investigation of one team doctor led to the race coming to a standstill. There is plenty of time to keep the Tour on the right tracks and have a wonderful race. There are many of serious challengers for the Maillot Jaune and we hope for a great show.

Bam! Tour Shaken and Basso Gone

Oh lord. Someone please stop this madness that is the Spanish doping scandal. Operación Puerto is out of hand and is taking the Tour de France with it. Key favorite for the 2006 Tour de France, Ivan Basso, was listed in the official documents obtained by the Spanish investigators and since the Giro d'Italia he has been fighting off suspensions that he was somehow involved with Eufemiano Fuentes and blood doping.

Yesterday the official documents were realized and only viewed by the teams this morning. Bjarne Riis, Manager of CSC, was at the team (AIGCP) meetings where it was decided that any rider related to the investigation would be asked to go home and no replacement riders would be allowed, which meant the end of the Tour for Ivan Basso.

"We had a meeting with all the teams and we all agree on the ethical codes of the teams," said Riis Friday afternoon in a franticly organized press conference. "After that I have decided that Ivan is not participating in the Tour. Because of the story in Spain and also that is not possible that a rider can focus on the Tour at the same time he is suspected in such a doping case. ... We were presented with the papers form the UCI, which had been given from the Guard Civile in Spain. Those papers list Ivan as a suspect and there is no way for him to race while he is being investigated."

Are there any other riders from Team CSC? "No. Not as far as we know. Basso was the only rider listed in the papers." Did Fabian Cancellara not being selected for the Tour have anything to do with the investigations? "I hope not. We have no reason to believe this."

Ivan Basso has no been official suspend from the team. Riis told Basso that he would have to go back home to Italy after the AIGCP meeting. "He accepted this because he knows it is my job. He was very sad with the news. He came to the Tour to win so he is very disappointed. In don't think I have to explain more."

But you are Ivan's Trainer. How is it you don't know what is going on with him? "Everything has been in order with Ivan and there are no indicators for me to suspect anything," continued a saddened Riis. "It is hard for us to believe that he is involved but he is listed on the papers of the Spanish investigator." How can we trust Ivan and you? "Well, I still trust Ivan. His name is on the list in the documents but that does not mean he is doping. There is an investigation, that is all."

"If we continued with Ivan it would not be possible to race. He would be hunted and bothered every day. This is no way to do the Tour. I still want to continue with the Tour, concentrate on the race. It is our job to concentrate on the race. This is something we take very seriously."

"I have been working for five or six years," said the Danish 1996 Tour champion in regards to the team's future. "We all know the rules and regulations. It is a part of our job in cycling to know these rules. We do all we can to protect our image, and image is very important to us. I believe our team has a future. We work in a serious way and we have to continue to work this way. Sure, this is a special situation. We take what we have in our hands and work from here."

Earlier this week a former CSC rider, Tyler Hamilton, was drawn into Operación Puerto. Riis had a very close relationship with the American rider before he moved on to Phonak where he won an Olympic gold medal and a stage of the Vuelta a España before being found guilty for doping. Hamilton has been banned for two years due to the blood doping accusations, with a possible comeback this fall.

It must be very disappointing for a DS, who works so close with his riders, to have another rider listed with this affair. "Of course it is disappointing. If this is the case then I am very sorry. I hope it is not true," said a somber Riis in regards to Hamilton.

The Tour de France rolls on, albeit without a few of the star riders. The damage has been done and BiciRace.com hopes a better sport is built from here. There are three weeks of fabulous racing ahead of us and the riders will make for exciting racing.

"I think it is a huge blow for everyone. I would rather be in front of the microphones when Ivan had won a stage. I hope for positive news and I hope you are able to report this with your pens and cameras," Riis said to the gathered reporters. "It is easy to set down and cry and worry how difficult it has become. But I have to continue to make sure my team goes on strong. Life deals out these hard struggles and you have to deal with it. Sometimes life is like this. It is my wish to carry on. ... It would be easy for me to runaway now and say I have had enough. I have had a lot of disappointments in my life and it would be easier for me to do something else. But I am here to create something special."

"In the future I might not be here as a director but right now the sport needs me, everybody needs me. Even you, the press. We need to help cycling carry on. It is hard to say what we should do for the sport. I believe in the way I work and I am not going to change anything I do now, because of this investigation. I believe in what we are doing. It is impossible for me to be with the riders all the time. I try to be with them so much. The whole team staff does all they can."

Riis was patient in his explanations to the press regarding CSC's position his star rider. His final thoughts shifted to the future of the rider from Varese... "It has to be proven," said Riis. "I have no reason to believe that he is guilty. We will see."

Ullrich Suspended and Astaná-Würth in Doubt

In an 11th hour move T-Mobile has suspended Jan Ullrich over his alleged connection in the Spanish doping ring headed by Madrid doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. It should be noted that Ullrich hasn't been found guilty of anything yet. The move is in accordance with the UCI ProTour's team conduct agreement in which team management is urged to suspend riders suspected of doping involvement. Joining Jan Ullrich on the sidelines from the T-Mobile squad are his mentor, Rudy Pevenage, and Spaniard Oscar Sevilla.

Astaná-Würth was out of the woods yesterday when a judge at the Court for Arbitration of Sport ruled in their favor that they could participate in the Tour. However, the Astaná-Würth is not in the clear yet. The majority of their Tour roster has been implicated in the doping scandal, which if the team chooses to apply the ProTour code of ethics and suspend them, they would not have enough riders to field a team for the event. The UCI mandates a team of at least 6 riders for any of the three Grand Tours.

The following riders from the Astaná-Würth team have also been connected in the case: Sergio Paulinho, Allan Davis, Alberto Contador, Isidro Nozal and Joseba Beloki.
- Paco

Basso, Ullrich and Others Asked to Leave Tour

This afternoon, 30 June, the ASO and AIGCP announced the decisions of their meeting in regards to the list of riders involved in the ongoing Spanish doping affair, dubbed Operación Puerto. All of the riders listed by the investigators, including Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich, have been asked to leave the Tour de France before it's depart Saturday, 1 July.

"We had a meeting this morning," explained an ASO spokesman. "We were waiting on official details from the Spanish investigators. T-Mobile had already decided to pull out their riders named, Ullrich and Sevilla, along with Rudy Pevenage. The team representatives decided to respect the ethical agreements and not to replace the riders who were asked to leave the race."

"Basso, Mancebo, Ullrich and the other riders are now out of the race. We are regretful that Astaná is already here at the race because many of their members, a lot who are not at the Tour, are involved in this investigation. It seems more of a systemized doping situation."

"The enemy is not cycling but doping." - ASO

"The ASO and the teams have decided to fight together against doping. The enemy is not cycling but doping. We hope tomorrow, with the start of the Tour, everyone will keep on dreaming of cycling in a wonderful way and fight against the doping problems."

Patrick Lefevere, president of AIGCP, joined with the ASO to express the decisions made by the teams. "First of all I am very unhappy to be here with this news," explained the Belgian. "This morning we had a meeting with all the teams. The 21 teams here took a decision to not to replace the riders. We are making a strong sign and it is better for the sport."

What is clear is that the sport of cycling is in chaos. Two of the biggest challengers to the race overall have left and will not contest the race.

93rd Tour de France - presented by , 1 - 23 July
Main, Startlist, Classifications, Tour Favorites, Team CSC versus T-Mobile
Stages and Maps, Key Stages, Overall Map
Photos, The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Simoni and Saunier Duval-Prodir Updates
2005 Results

30 June News ...