News for June 9, 1999

Virenque deserves the presumption of innocence

Patrick Keil, the judge in Lille investigating the Festina scandal has said that there is "nothing to oppose" the presence of Richard Virenque in the Tour de France. He said that "Monsieur Virenque deserves the benefits of the presumption of innocence."

Richard Virenque "was examined by me because there were allegations of his involvement in EPO but there has been nothing definitive found by this court and thus he must be presumed innocent."

Would the rider thus be free to start in the Tour de France?

"There is nothing to oppose this."

Could the cycling authorities stop Richard Virenque from taking part in the next Tour de France?

"They would risk coming up against the same problem - the presumption of innocence. They would be taking a large risk because Richard Virenque could take legal action based on there being no legally established proof."

Keil said that he would be closing the investigation before the end of June. "A few days before the beginning of the Tour in July."

Dutch doctors have their say

Guido Costongs, a Dutch doctor and chemist, who works for Stein Partners in Monchengladbach (Germany) where they do 200,000 blood analyses per day told the press on Tuesday: "I need 5 minutes, no more, to prove EPO use. My colleagues and I have been looking for a method to find erythropoietine. We are ready now to do the tests. This week we shall contact the UCI."

Why the UCI and not the International Olympic Committee?

"I know Hein Verbruggen. Three years ago I did the first health controls in the Klautertour in Sweikhuizen (Netherlands). We can detect artificial EPO use. In the blood you can easily detect non-mature blood cells. Normal human beings have between 17 and 27 percent of these cells. After injecting with artificial EPO that percentage will be around 80 to 90 percent. When someone stops injecting EPO they can see their non-mature blood cells count go down to below 10 per cent. This is because the body's own production stops while the artificial EPO is being injected. We use this method of analysis in kidney-dialysis patients and as a test for sportspersons. These figures are not applicable to people with anaemia. But then I don't think that anaemic people are riding in the professional peloton."

What about Pantani?

"Bring me the blood of Pantani. Send it to me at 8 degrees and I will tell you within 5 minutes whether he has been using EPO."

Ton Verhey, a cycling doctor from Doetinchem also commented on the EPO issue: "I will explain Pantani's reading one more time. When you sleep above 2500 metres you can make so much EPO that your hematocrit level goes above 50. When you ride a Tour after 1 to 2 weeks the level goes from 45 to 40. In the night, when you are dehydrated, especially after a day of cycling in the mountians in warm weather you can go above 50. Pantani was prepared the night before and "tuned up on 48-49". But because of the dehydration (which is stronger in the mountains than at sea level) this reading went to 52. It represents an major error by his support crew.

UCI Standings after Giro d'Italia

 1. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 		2788 points
 2. Michele Bartoli (Ita) 		2249
 3. Michael Boogerd (Ned) 		2100
 4. Davide Rebellin (Ita) 		2030
 5. Abraham Olano (Spa) 		1923
 6. Marco Pantani (Ita) 		1827
 7. Frank Vandenbroucke (Bel) 		1628
 8. Andrea Tafi (Ita) 			1589
 9. Oscar Camanzind (Swi) 		1463
10. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) 		1325
11. Fernando Escartin (Spa) 		1287
12. Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) 		1263
13. Leon Van Bon (Ned) 			1218
14. Wladimir Belli (Ita)		1213
15. Lance Armstrong (USA) 		1201

Teams:

 1. Mapei-Quick Step			5002
 2. Rabobank 				4966
 3. ONCE-Deutsche Bank			3444
 4. TVM-Farm Frites			3245
 5. Team Polti 				3217