Petacchi denies links to blood doping investigation
Alessandro Petacchi has denied being involved in the German Aderlass blood doping investigation centred around Dr. Mark Schmidt, after a joint investigation by the French Le Monde and Italian Corriere della Sera newspapers alleged he was a client of the former Team Milram doctor who has worked with a number of cross-country skiers in recent years.
On Sunday, Petacchi’s former teammate Danilo Hondo confessed to blood doping, saying he paid Dr. Schimdt €30,000 for his blood doping services in 2012 and 2013. He said he contacted Dr. Schmidt via a Slovenian or Croatian phone number to arrange for the blood transfusions. Hondo, who has lived in Switzerland for a number of years, was immediately sacked from his coaching role by the Swiss cycling Federation.
Petacchi and Hondo rode together at Lampre-ISD from 2011-2012, with the German often acting as Petacchi’s leadout man in the sprints. Hondo retired in 2014, while Petacchi retired mid-way through 2015. During his long career, which began in 1996, Petacchi won 152 races, including the 2005 Milan-San Remo and 22 stages at the Giro d’Italia.
"I’ve never had a blood transfusion. I’ve no idea why my name appears in this dossier," Petacchi told Corriere della Sera after commentating on stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia for Italian television.
"I found out from you that this Mark Schmidt guy was a team doctor at Team Milram when I raced for them. Perhaps he followed the German riders: I never saw him or met him. I never went to his surgery, in Germany or anywhere else."
Petacchi’s mobile phone was switched off or unavailable when called by Cyclingnews for further reaction.
Le Monde and Corriere della Sera suggest Petacchi was linked to Operation Aderlass after Dr. Schimdt allegedly named him during questioning by German investigators, with Hondo allegedly confirming the links. Dr. Schimdt remains in jail in Germany.
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