Former Tour de France points and mountains classification winner, Laurent Jalabert has been linked to the banned doctor Michele Ferrari in an interview with Jacques Mombet. During an interview with the journalist Pierre Ballester, the former French rugby doctor once went to Dr. Ferrari in search of advice and in discussing his reasons he named Jalabert as one of his clients, according to a transcript published in Le Monde.
He initially says: “they have taken their cue from what they did in cycling, and especially with a French cyclist of the time,” before going on to name the former rider specifically.
He added: “It is from this collaboration they left us the details of their protocol and how they arrived by private plane on training sites with their products, how they went through cure periods, take it for ten days, stop for fifteen days, repeat the cycle to repeat three times in total. They talked about everything: growth factors, testosterone, EPO…”
Jalabert has previously been linked with Ferrari during the French Senate hearing into retrospective analysis conducted on sampled given during the 1998 Tour de France, where he was found to have taken EPO. Jalabert denied any relationship with Ferrari, jokingly saying that the team’s doctor was called Doctor Citroën.
Sagan leads Tinkoff-Saxo at Strade Bianche
Peter Sagan will lead his Tinkoff-Saxo squad at the upcoming Strade Bianche held on March 7 in Tuscany, Italy, where he will no doubt be looking for his first win of the season.
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"The Strade Bianche is a race that appeals to me because it has a very picturesque, scenic route,” Sagan said in a team release. “It is also ideal for my characteristics and qualities as a rider. I hope to do well in my first European race of 2015.”
The team surrounding Sagan will include Daniele Bennati, Roman Kreuziger, Maciej Bodnar, Manuele Boaro, Christopher Juul-Jensen, Juraj Sagan and Matteo Tosatto.
“Peter Sagan is definitely our leader at Strade Bianche, furthermore, we have a squad of very significant and prestigious riders, with great qualities that will play an important role in achieving our goal, which is to win. Most of our riders such as Bennati, Juul-Jensen and Kreuziger, who was fifth last year, have already participated in the Strade Bianche and are familiar with the route and the challenges,” said the team's director Bruno Cenghialta.
Strade Bianche is a 200km race, with 10 gravel sections, that starts in San Gimignano and ends in the Piazza Il Campo in the centre of Siena. Last year, Michal Kwiatkowski won the race solo after riding away from Sagan on the final climb.
Doping investigators allegedly find Vaminolact in Meeusen’s camper
Mertens is currently under investigation for providing athletes with illegal ozone treatment.
Vaminolact are injectable amino acids developed as a nutritional source for premature and sick babies. The medicine is not banned but injections are. The disciplinary commission of the Vlaamse Gemeeenschap (Flemish Community) is expected to make a decision on whether the actions violated anti-doping rules in Sweeck’s case on March 10, and Meeusen could face a similar outcome.
Meeusen’s lawyer told Nieuwsblad.be, ”There are no forbidden methods used, so we will plead the acquittal with conviction."
