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€7000 in Payments To Dr. Fuentes Confirmed

Early indications are that another high-profile rider may have been caught-up in the performance-doping, the culprit this time being Frank Schleck, who co-captained team CSC’s Tour de France squad this year with teammate and eventual Tour winner, Carlos Sastre.

The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has reported that investigators have evidence that Frank Schleck – who wore yellow on the Alpe d’Huez in this year’s Tour de France and finished just off the podium in Paris – had wired nearly seven thousand Euros to Eufemiano Fuentes’ Swiss bank account in March 2006.  

Eufemiano Fuentes, one may recall, is the doctor whose Madrid clinic was raided by Spanish police in 2006 in conjunction with Operación Puerto, which resulted in a fleet of top riders led by names such as Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso being ejected from the sport. 

Documents uncovered by the German federal police confirmed the matter, and the Luxembourg Attorney General Robert Belver confirmed the evidence of the payment.

“Yes, there is this payment of about 7000 Euro to Mr. Fuentes. I have received copies of the bank documents from Germany,” Biever told the SZ. “Several weeks ago I sent these documents concerning Schleck to the Luxembourg Anti-doping Agency.”

In addition, the German newspaper claims that it has seen witness statements claiming that Schleck and CSC manager Bjarne Riis visited Fuentes in Madrid as early as December 2005.

In the Operation Puerto files, Schleck purportedly is the one identified with the name “Amigo di Birillo.”  As you may recall, “Birillo” was identified as Ivan Basso, who happens to be Schleck’s friend and former teammate, and who last year confessed involvement with the doctor, but continues to insist that he never actually participated in the alleged doping.

Naturally, Schleck has claimed innocence in the matter, telling the newspaper, “I have not doped.”  

Nevertheless, Schleck confirmed that he now has an appointment with the Luxembourg Anti-doping Committee. “Of course I will take the time to clear this situation up.”  

Riis’ own statement on the matter was that, “Frank confirmed to me that he hadn’t done anything wrong. hasn’t violated any anti-doping rules.”

Ironically, Schleck is currently in Varese for the World Championship road race on Sunday.  In Varese, there apparently has been a rash of riders choosing not to take the start, and French antidoping chief Pierre Bordry speculated that that the announcement of retroactive testing on Tour de France samples could be the reason for several riders opting not to race. 

According to news agency AFP, the samples of some 30 riders will be re-tested.  Bordry indicated that the lab would specificially look for CERA, a new variant of EPO that Riccardo Ricco had used during this year’s Tour.