You’d figure some of his former Liberty Siguros teammates at least. I hope Contador and Luis Sanchez aren’t among them. It’d be nice if Beloki wasn’t one of them but I have* real* doubts about that.
From AFP:
German Jörg Jaksche, one of dozens of cyclists implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal which erupted last year, is set to make a series of stunning revelations about current doping practices.
Jaksche’s lawyer Michael Lehner said on Friday the German, who has protested his innocence but been suspended from all competition due to his alleged links to the affair, will reveal all in German weekly magazine Der Spiegel on Monday.
The Tour de France begins in London on July 7, and organizers and the sport’s world ruling body have taken serious steps in a bid to finally bring an end to cheating in the sport.
Jaksche, the 2004 Paris-Nice winner who joined the Russian second division outfit Tinkoff in April, appears ready to make his own contribution by revealing all he knows about doping.
Lehner said the former Liberty Seguros rider “will not just admit to doping himself, but will shed light on what really goes on in the peloton, and who the main (doping) protagonists are.” Operación Puerto erupted in May 2006, when Spanish police raided the premises of Spanish sports doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and found bags of blood, banned substances and names of 200 athletes, including 60 cyclists.
Jaksche was linked to one of the codenames found on the bags of blood, but he denied that the moniker “Bella Jorg” related to him.
Germany’s 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich was implicated, as was Italian Ivan Basso.
Since then, 2006 Giro d’Italia champion Basso has admitted his links to Fuentes, confirming that the name “Birillo” - found on a bag of blood - was the name of his dog. He was banned for two years two weeks ago.
Jaksche was one of the 13 riders, including Basso and Ullrich, who were prevented from riding last year’s Tour de France because of their implication in the affair.
As well as making revelations, his lawyer said he is ready to act as a witness for the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), the UCI and legal authorities.
His decision follows the latest in a long line of moves to keep him from competing.
On Thursday the German cycling federation (BDR) stopped him from racing in the national road race championships in Wiesbaden.
BDR president Rudolf Scharping applauded Jaksche’s decision.
“If he is really going to make these revelations, then he deserves respect although he has taken his time about deciding to do so,” said Scharping.
You’d figure some of his former Liberty Siguros teammates at least.
Maybe some Liberty riders but I think he was only with them for a season, I’m more curious about CSC since he was with them for years before he went to Liberty.
I’m so sick of the “week before the Tour” doping revelations. It is so obviously a grab for publicity. If cycling really wanted to take a stand against doping, the hammer wouldn’t only drop in early July. At this point, who cares anymore?
You’re kidding, right? Cyclingnews has had doping articles all year. There have been new developments every week. People just pay more attention to them now.
You go on lEquipe.fr and half the news about cycling are doping related. Year round…It’s not really new for anyone who knows cycling…what’s frustrating is that we end up with the impression that other pro sports are cleaner…
Sure, there is doping news year round, but the BIG stories: Operation Puerto; the annual book about Lance and his alleged doping; etc., etc., always seem to “pop up” right before the Tour. I don’t think you can reasonably argue that it’s a coincidence.
It’s already out, the article I mean. He doesn’t directly out any riders (jabs at Vinokourov and Voigt) and explicitly states he does not want to implicate any riders specifically. Whom he does implicate are the people behind the scenes (Godefroot, Riis, Stanga, Saiz, i.e. the managers of the teams he rode for), he admits to being involved with the Fuentes/operacion puerto thing and even explains how, where and by whom blood was taken in 2005 and reintroduced into his body for the Tour.
Overall he claims it is a firmly installed system that spans the entire sport, as he saw it in every team he rode for (4 or 5 since 1997?). Lastly he implicates the UCI, where certain teams have “agreements” with the UCI about testing and the like.
With Vino upset obviously he’s on the chopping block, and at the same time he has ties to Ferrari. Vino lays into Jaschke, just like everyone layed into Jesus Manzano. Think Botero, he’s on the big doping team Kelme with Jesus, then ends up on T-mobile. Botero wins the world TT champ, soars in the tour and then mysteriously doesn’t make a dent in the peloton, I would guess he quit doping, which is fine. But it perhaps signals that some one off or short time performance isn’t normal. The moral here is to listen to Jesus.
Just want to add that a good friend of mine was “almost” forced to steroid up to “maybe” get the chance to play division 2 football. He tried it like the rest and became a real pissed off 3rd string nobody. The doper pool is so deep you certainly wouldn’t even want to wade in just to find out who else might be in there in the dark deep part.