Doping Scandal
June 6, 2007
The allegations about doping during Team Telekom's glory years in the mid-1990s weren't new. But they did increase the pressure on Ullrich as the only major rider from the team at that time not to have admitted using banned substances.
"With one hundred percent certainty, Jan took EPO and human growth hormones," d'Hont told the TV news show "Tagesthemen," one of the most-watched programs of its kind in Germany. "Like Bjarne Riis, Rolf Aldag and the other members of the team, Jan has to admit how it was."
D'Hont, who worked for Team Telekom from 1992 to 1996, first made his accusations when he published a book this spring. Since then a number of former Telekom stars, including 1996 Tour de France winner Riis, have admitted using substances like EPO, which increases red-blood cell production. Two team doctors have also confessed to administering the drugs.
Ullrich, who retired this February amidst a separate set of doping suspicions, has refused to issue a statement about d'Hont's allegations. The press in Germany has pilloried the cyclist, formerly a national hero, for remaining silent.
Godefroot says he'll sue
Also under fire is Walter Godefroot, who was manager at Team Telekom and its successor Team T-Mobile from 1992 to 2005.
On Tuesday, Godefroot -- now an advisor with the newly founded Team Astana -- denied that he had facilitated the use of banned substances during his Telekom years.
"I neither organized nor financed doping in our cycling team," Godefroot told reports at a press conference in his home town of Ghent, Belgium.
"I don't want to comment on others," Godefroot added. "Jan himself has to decide whether he's got anything to say."
Godefroot also branded d'Hont a "crass lair" and said he would be suing the former masseur.