Cycling News Flash, April 4, 2007

Edited by Gregor Brown

Puerto blood confirmed to be Ullrich's

By Hedwig Kröner

Ullrich's blood confirmed
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini

German sports news agency sid revealed on Tuesday afternoon that the blood bags seized in Operación Puerto and marked "Jan," "number 1" or "Hijo Rudicio" ('son of Rudy') have been confirmed to contain the blood of the now-retired German cycling star, Jan Ullrich. Public prosecutor Fred Apostel told sports news agency sid that the comparison with a DNA sample taken from Ullrich's saliva showed "without a doubt" that the blood seized by the Guardia Civil last year indeed belonged to the only German to have ever won the Tour de France.

"We found nine blood bags that we could compare with the DNA probes," Apostel told n-tv. For the prosecutor, this proves that Jan Ullrich had indeed been in contact with the Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. "This shows that blood bags were stored there [in Fuentes' offices]," he added.

The Ullrich camp has meanwhile reacted and posted a statement on the personal website of the former cyclist, janullrich.de. Attorney Johann Schwenn declared that "The defence will take a close look at the opinion of the Federal Criminal Police Office. After the irregularities in the Spanish procedure it is well possible that this finding is the consequence of manipulation. In any case, there is no reason to change anything in the line of defence of Jan Ullrich."

The public prosecutor in Bonn, Germany is investigating fraud charges against Ullrich, as well as his advisor Rudy Pevenage.

Cyclingnews' recent coverage of 'Operación Puerto'

May 18, 2009 - Valverde to start Catalunya
May 15, 2009 - Valverde not welcome in Denmark
May 14, 2009 - Spanish federation wants proof in Valverde case
May 13, 2009 - Spanish Olympic Committee defends Valverde
May 12, 2009 - Valverde responds to sanction
May 11, 2009 - Italian tribunal delivers Valverde two-year suspension
May 8, 2009 - Valverde case: Italian Olympic Committee defends Torri
May 7, 2009 - Valverde to take legal action against CONI prosecutor
May 5, 2009 - WADA and Spanish federation join CONI and UCI on Valverde
May 1, 2009 - International Cycling Union joins in on Valverde's hearing in Italy

Cyclingnews' complete coverage of Operación Puerto

Previous News    Next News

(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2007)