Riis rejects the allegations
Bjarne Riis of Denmark responded to the allegations made over two nights by Danish DR television that he may have been using performance-enhancing drugs banned by the authorities. The TV program showed graphic images of garbage left behind in hotel rooms by team staff during various races. One soigneur, the now disgraced Belgian Willy Voet said that most professional riders used EPO.
With respect to Riis, the producers of the TV program managed to obtain medical documents which they said were for Riis and showed his blood test values in 1995. The values were very high and they inferred that this indicated EPO use (leading up to the 1995 Tour de France).
Riis responded by telling Danish radio that: "I have not used doping. I am clean." Riis also challenged the documents saying that they could have been forged. There was nothing tying Riis to the documents and no official letterhead on the documents. They could have simply been fabricated. He was supported by a statement issued by his current team, Telekom. The spokesperson said that Riis had not used banned substances over the last 3 years (while a member of that team).
The journalists responded and claimed the records were accurate. They were from blood analysed at Italy's Ferrara University Hospital which did all the blood sample tests for the Gewiss-Ballan team. Riis was a member of that team in 1995.
Jalabert in Australia
Laurent Jalabert has given an interview on his arrival in Australia and has rejected the Danish TV claims about the ONCE team. He said, yesterday, via a translater, that he knew nothing at all about the use of drugs in ONCE and denied the claims made on the Danish program. It was a short interview.
They have also worked out a sharing arrangement with 1997 Giro winner Ivan Gotti, who they also recruited this year from Saeco, and Davide Rebellin. It has been agreed that Gotti will lead the team for the Giro, Virenque for the Tour and Davide Rebellin the Vuelta. It has also been decided that the team will have a larger presence in the World Cup races and Virenque will be expected to take his role in that quest.
Polti is not talking exactly about how much they are paying Virenque. But it is in the league of the other significant transfers in 1998 - Italian Michele Bartoli (Mapei), Spaniard Abraham Olano (ONCE), and Switzerland's Alex Zulle (Banesto). According to Polti", the wages of Virenque would border the 4 billion liras for a two year old contract, which would be equivalent to monthly wages of about $A110,000 independent of performance premiums which have been built into the contract.
For 1999, the Italian team has entered a partnership with the ELM-Leblanc company which specialises heating products. Coincidentally, the runner which bears the same name is no longer part of Polti. He has been sacked and he is now pursuing legal action against the team. Luc Leblanc, recruited during the summer 1995 by Gianluigi Stanga, was sacked by Polti although he still has a year of his contract to run. He is currently without a contract but still wants to race in 1999.
It is ironic because the paths of Virenque and Leblanc have once again crossed. Polti claims that Virenque's arrival has nothing to do with Leblanc's departure. Gianluigi Stanga said that Luc Leblanc was told before the end of the 1998 season that this sacking was inevitable. Virenque arrived at Festina as Leblanc departed.
In the past, the relation between Virenque and Leblanc have been stormy.
The UCI is currently located at Lausanne but the residents of that town rejected the plan to build a new velodrome in their city.
Someone out there will know what they are and maybe have a place of interest for them in a collection. They are just stored away in a drawer here."
So if you know anything can you email Brian