Willy Voet's lawyer apparently has placed the blame for the Festina drugs scandal squarely on the shoulders of the leading officials of the watchmaking company. He said: "So far there has only been an enquiry into the subordinates. Voet, Ryckaert and Roussel are subordinates and salaried employees of Festina, which inevitably supplied the money for the acquisition of doping products. It is indecent that Festina today pretends to be a white knight in the fight against doping."
The company has officially denied knowledge of any drugs use within the team.
Scott Sunderland doubts the TVM allegations
Australian Scott Sunderland, himself a former TVM rider said that it was difficult to place credibility on the recent medical report which claimed that the entire Tour de France team had tested positive after police took them into custody at Albertville. Scott had ridden with TVM for 5 seasons and said there were always whisperings about drug taking among the riders. So what else is new? He said that he was never pressured by anyone in the team to take drugs which were illegal.
Who will take responsibility?
The official line from the French is summarised by Marie-George Buffet, Minister of Youth and Sports: "The Tour de France is a private race with specific rules that all participants must accept to be able to participate." In other words, giving legitimacy to the new rules imposed by the Tour Organisation.
Marie-George Buffet has been the main force behind the new French anti-doping measures. She told L'Equipe: "It is necessary to corner the doping problem. We are going to need a lot of time. It is necessary for things to be spoken clearly and for the causes of doping to be addressed". For the minister: "The athlete is a victim of doping. With that I'm not saying that athletes don't know how to behave like adults or can't take responsibility, but that on occasion are entrapped by the system". Buffet assures that her fight is not only in cycling. "There are more than 50 sports involved in this fight and it is necessary for all sports to mobilize".
The official line from the Spaniards is summarised by Santiago Fisas, Secretary of State for Sports: "None of the rules of the Tour should go against the UCI rules, which the French race is bound to obey". In a meeting with the French minister, Santiago Fisas expressed his feelings about what happened at the last Tour: "I told her that we were shocked with the way things were done during the Tour. We would have acted differently in Spain. But each country has their methods and we have to respect them".
And what about the Tour of Spain? Enrique Franco, Director of Unipublic, the organizer of la Vuelta said: "In these matters, one can't be above the legislators. In cycling there are rules imposed by the UCI, which we abide to scrupulously. If the UCI sends us new rules, we accept them. But the Tour wants to be above the law".
And more Spanish reaction from Javier Mínguez, Sport Director for Vitalicio: "The French have to try to recuperate the race's prestige, but the rights of the Tour are not more important than the rights of the cyclists". Mínguez says that the moral clause might be directed towards the Spanish teams, which abandoned the race.
The director of Vitalicio lamented some of the proposals that the organizers of the Tour and Vuelta have talked about: "The trips to New York, or the island of Guadaloupe would be good for the health of the riders", he said ironically. "Who is looking out for who? The ask you to get up at 5a.m., to go on a transfer. Cycling is a tough sport, with a lot of suffering, but there has to be some dignity".