Old and new: the US Postal paint scheme (L) vs. the Discovery Channel paint-job.(Image credit: Zapata Espinoza/Trek USA)
The US Postal boys patrol the front of the peloton.(Image credit: Caroline Yang)
Officials from Trek Bicycle Corp. have spoken with federal investigators as part of the probe investigating Floyd Landis’ allegations of doping in the US Postal Service team, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Trek supplied bicycles to the now-defunct squad at the centre of the investigation.
“We have been contacted [by federal investigators], and we have provided information,” said Trek spokesman Bill Mashek. “We are cooperating fully in the investigation.”
He explained that company officials had been contacted before the start of this year’s Tour de France and asked to supply investigators with “documents.” Mashek also noted that Trek would respect the wishes of the investigating team by not publicising details of the inquiry.
Trek’s involvement in the inquiry stems from allegations by Floyd Landis that were printed in the Wall Street Journal in July. Landis said that while riding for US Postal Service, he discovered that not all of the bicycles supplied by Trek were reaching team riders. He claimed that at least sixty team bikes manufactured by Trek were instead sold on the internet in order to fund a doping programme for the squad.
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Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
