Doping Confessions
June 30, 2007
Jaksche told German news magazine Der Spiegel, in a report made available Saturday ahead of Monday's publication, that he used performance-enhancing drugs since 1997. They included the blood doping substance EPO, Human Growth Hormone and other forbidden substances throughout his career at various teams, mostly with the knowledge of team leaders.
The German, who lives in Austria, was suspended by his team --Tinkoff Credit Systems -- for suspected involvement in "Operation Puerto."
"I believe it's important for the future of the sport that someone comes out and says, 'OK, this is how it happens here'," Jaksche told Der Spiegel.
"It is perverse but the doping system is just because everyone dopes. Cycling without doping is only just if no one dopes," he said.
"I am Bella"
Jaksche's biggest career wins came in 2004, the classic Paris-Nice event and the Mediterranean Tour. He planned to compete at this week's German championships but was barred by the national cycling body.
The 30-year-old said that he received forbidden blood transfusions with the help of Eufemiano Fuentes from 2005 onwards. The scandal broke in May 2006 when Spanish authorities seized about 100 bags of frozen blood in the Madrid offices of Fuentes.
"I am 'Bella'. It was my blood that was found in three bags. I am also the 'number 20' from the documents and I was a client of doctor Fuentes in Madrid 2005 and 2006,' Jaksche said.
More than 50 riders have been implicated in the affair. Up to now Italian Ivan Basso was the only rider to confess, but said he only intended to dope with the help of Fuentes. Jaksche suggested he was surprised that not more riders were on the list.
Spanish doc not a butcher says Jaksche
Jaksche said he was contacted by Fuentes after joining the now defunct Liberty Seguros team run by Manolo Saiz, another key suspect in the Spanish probe named Operation Puerto.
Jaksche said that he met Fuentes for the first time in January 2005 and talked with the doctor about the full spectrum of doping ranging from steroids and artificial hemoglobin to EPO and finally to blood transfusions.
"Fuentes effectively outlined his entire catalogue and asked what risk I was prepared to take. He meant the risk of being caught, not the health risk. That's how we got to doping with your own blood," Jaksche said.
"The method was completely new for me, but he talked about it like others talk about changing nappies."
Jaksche said that Fuentes never mentioned other riders to him, calling him "a master of disguise," and that careful health precautions were taken when the transfusions were carried out. He said that Fuentes had assistants such as a German doctor under investigation by Göttingen prosecutors.
"Fuentes is one of those sports physicians who are happy when their riders have top results because they see it as a triumph for themselves as well."
"He is not a Spanish butcher. There is something brilliant about him, even though he sometimes is a little crazy. He is the kind of guy who drives through a red light just to see what happens," he said.
A "crash course" in doping
Like Basso, Jaksche did not implicate other riders, but he gave a detailed testimony in the 13-page interview and report by Der Spiegel.
Jaksche said that he first used EPO in 1997 while at the Polti team and that he also doped while at Team Telekom, Once, CSC and Liberty Seguros. He said he got a "crash course" in doping at Polti from team boss Gianluigi Stanga, now the head of the Milram team, in June 1997.
"It was my crash course. A team assistant gave me a shot of EPO in my room," Jaksche said. "I did what I had to do to be better in my job. The logic behind it is that you adjust your performance level to that of the others because everyone is doing it (doping). You live in a parallel world in cycling."
The 30-year-old said that team leaders such as Telekom's Walter Godefroot and CSC's Bjarne Riis were aware of the forbidden practices even though the words doping or EPO were not mentioned at team meetings.
"The team leadership knew everything. It was a fully installed system," he said about his Telekom days.
Former Telekom riders such as the 1996 Tour winner Riis, Eric Zabel and Rolf Aldag have admitted to using EPO doping in the 1990s.
According to Der Spiegel, all parties accused by Jaksche have dismissed the allegations.
Jaksche ready to be chief witness
Jaksche's lawyer, Micheal Lehner, said Friday that Jaksche was ready to act as a chief witness for the World Anti-Doping Agency, the UCI and the authorities. If he did he could escape with a lesser doping ban than the mandatory two years.
Jaksche's revelations came one week before the start of the 2007 Tour de France in London. Tour organizers have said that all riders implicated in the Fuentes case are not welcome, and others with positive or suspicious doping test results, such as German Michael Kessler and Italians Alessandro Petacchi and Danilo di Luca.
Under a new guideline by the International Cycling Union (UCI), riders are asked to sign an anti-doping declaration under which they agree to pay a year's salary on top of a ban if they are caught doping.