Operación Puerto doping case
Encyclopedia
Operación Puerto is the code name of a Spanish Police operation against the doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes
, started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world most famous cyclists at the time.
Media attention has focused on the small number of professional road cyclists
named. By May 2007, 15 had been acquitted. Three admitted doping or had evidence of blood doping.
, Jesús Manzano
exposed systematic doping in his former cycling team, Kelme. He detailed blood doping
as well as the performance-enhancing drugs he used while on the team. The investigation and the allegations he made led to questioning of several members of the team in April 2004. These included Eufemiano Fuentes
who was the Kelme team doctor, Walter Virú the doctor before Fuentes, and Alfredo Córdova who was working for but involved with Kelme in 2003. An investigation began into the practices of Fuentes in early 2006 by the anti-drug trafficking arm of the Spanish Guardia Civil
.
Guardia Civil
arrested the directeur sportif
of the team, Manolo Saiz
, and four others including Fuentes, accused of doping
practices with riders. Spanish police raided residences. In one, belonging to Fuentes, they found a thousand doses of anabolic steroid
s, 100 packets of blood products, and machines to manipulate and transfuse them. The Guardia Civil found a list naming other cyclists involved .
Liberty Seguros
withdrew their sponsorship, which left Würth
as sole sponsor.
and José Enrique Gutiérrez
, who had finished second in the 2006 Giro d'Italia
. Tour de France
organisers ASO
considered withdrawing invitations to and Comunidad Valenciana
. On June 1, the director of Valenciana, José Ignacio Labarta, resigned.
Würth found a new sponsor, five Kazakh
companies united under the name of the capital, Astana
, and became Astana-Würth. ASO withdrew Comunitat Valenciana's invitation, moving riders to send blood samples to be analysed to prove their innocence. The Vuelta a España
considered expelling the team.
After El País published details of Operación Puerto, Spanish riders boycotted the Spanish National Road Race Championships, which was cancelled after 500 metres. ASO wrote asking Astana-Würth not to take part in the Tour de France, which the team ignored. Jan Ullrich
, linked to Fuentes by the newspaper, threatened to sue El País.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport
(CAS) said Astana-Würth were to be accepted in the Tour. The Spanish authorities lifted the secret of summary two days before the start of the 2006 Tour, formally involving all 56 riders found in Fuentes' lists.
Because Ullrich and Óscar Sevilla were in the lists, T-Mobile suspended them. The example was followed by Ivan Basso's Team CSC and Francisco Mancebo
's AG2R Prévoyance
. ASO demanded all riders involved be withdrawn by their teams, even though Astana-Würth had received the support of the CAS.
The day before the Tour, Astana-Würth yielded to pressure. Five of their riders had been excluded by ASO for involvement in the scandal, leaving only four of the six riders required. Francisco Mancebo
, fourth the previous year and involved in the case, ended his career, according to his directeur sportif Vincent Lavenu
. As a result, none of the riders who finished in the top 5 of the 2005 Tour de France
started in the 2006 edition.
On July 3, Würth also withdrew sponsorship of the team. They had planned sponsorship only if it were not excluded from a race.
Six days later, T-Mobile fired Rudy Pevenage
, directeur sportif, because he was also involved. On July 21, the team suspended Ullrich and Sevilla, effectively sacking them. On the same day, Spanish cycling newspaper Meta2Mil listed codenames used by Fuentes which had not been deciphered by police.
claimed that an anti-doping laboratory in Barcelona
which analyzed 99 bags of blood plasma
seized in Operación Puerto found "high levels of erythropoietin
(EPO)". This suggested athletes working with Fuentes had been boosting their performance in ways other than blood doping. El Mundo suggested those implicated had delegated their cheating to Fuentes, and would not have been able to control the level of EPO they were taking.
After studying the Barcelona lab's report, El Mundo described Fuentes's program as: riders would visit Fuentes a few weeks before a race and have blood removed. Fuentes would run the blood through a centrifuge
, separating the blood plasma
from the red blood cells. The cells would be re-injected shortly before competition, boosting resistance to fatigue. If haematocrit levels (volume of red blood cells) got dangerously high, they would re-inject plasma as well, enhanced with EPO, to dilute the red blood cells and avoid detection.
The Barcelona lab did not identify any athlete responsible for any of the 99 tested bags of blood.
, Isidro Nozal
, Sérgio Paulinho
, Allan Davis
and Alberto Contador
- received a document clearing them of links to Operación Puerto, the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco reported.
On October 8, the Madrid
court in charge of the case told the Spanish cycling federation, the Real Federación Española de Ciclismo (RFEC), that court documents could not be used in the federation's investigations.
On October 13, Ivan Basso
was cleared by Italian authorities due to lack of evidence. Ullrich was cleared by the Spanish courts on October 25. The judge ruled that Ullrich and Basso were put under investigation without proof of involvement.
On October 28, the RFEC closed disciplinary files against cyclists in the investigation. However, the RFEC will initiate disciplinary investigations on Manolo Sáiz. UCI
president Pat McQuaid was reported to feel let down by authorities in Spain. He hoped teams would require cyclists to submit DNA
samples to clear their names. The investigations into Spanish riders were suspended.
On March 7, 2007, the case was dropped through lack of evidence of crime.
saliva DNA. On 7 May, Basso admitted involvement with the scandal to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). On 9 May, Michele Scarponi
admitted he was Zapatero in Fuentes' files. And on 30 June, Jörg Jaksche
admitted he was Bella.
Rasmus Lund removed from tour de Singapore, because of inappropiate beahviour, no team and a hematocrit value of 75.
was assured by Spanish prosecutors that no track and field athletes
were involved. On September 23, 2006, former cyclist Jesús Manzano
told reporters from France 3
that he had seen "well-known footballers" from La Liga
visit the offices of Dr Fuentes.
In May 2007 Sepp Blatter
, president of FIFA
, at a World Anti-Doping Agency
meeting in Montreal, was reportedly interested in the contents "of the Puerto file". Le Monde
had reported in December 2006 that they had possession of documents of Fuentes detailing "seasonal preparation plans" for Spanish football clubs FC Barcelona
and Real Madrid
. These plans did not specifically name any players.
This news seem to be only rumors, since the French journal lost its trials in 2009 and 2011 against the FC Barcelona because he could not produce any proof of its allegations. In the ultimate judgement, on 2011-11-14, it was condemned to pay 15,000 euros of indemnity for "using false and unverified facts".
No other athletes had been named.
Eufemiano Fuentes
Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is a Spanish sports doctor best known for being implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case.Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and the Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jesús Manzano accused Fuentes of being involved with doping....
, started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world most famous cyclists at the time.
Media attention has focused on the small number of professional road cyclists
Road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...
named. By May 2007, 15 had been acquitted. Three admitted doping or had evidence of blood doping.
Revelations by Jesús Manzano
In March 2004 in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Diario ASDiario AS
Diario AS is a Spanish daily sports newspaper, concentrating particularly on football.It particularly covers news of the principal Madrid football teams, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, in which it competes directly with MARCA....
, Jesús Manzano
Jesús Manzano
Jesús María Manzano Ruano is a former Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He is famous as the whistleblower of systematic doping within his cycling team and his statements led the Guardia Civil to conduct the Operación Puerto investigation around the sport doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.-Cycling...
exposed systematic doping in his former cycling team, Kelme. He detailed blood doping
Blood doping
Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentration in the blood can improve an athlete’s aerobic capacity and...
as well as the performance-enhancing drugs he used while on the team. The investigation and the allegations he made led to questioning of several members of the team in April 2004. These included Eufemiano Fuentes
Eufemiano Fuentes
Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is a Spanish sports doctor best known for being implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case.Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and the Kelme. The former Kelme rider Jesús Manzano accused Fuentes of being involved with doping....
who was the Kelme team doctor, Walter Virú the doctor before Fuentes, and Alfredo Córdova who was working for but involved with Kelme in 2003. An investigation began into the practices of Fuentes in early 2006 by the anti-drug trafficking arm of the Spanish Guardia Civil
Civil Guard (Spain)
The Civil Guard is the Spanish gendarmerie. It has foreign peace-keeping missions and maintains military status and is the equivalent of a federal military-status police force. As a police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the...
.
Police action
On 23 May 2006, SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Guardia Civil
Civil Guard (Spain)
The Civil Guard is the Spanish gendarmerie. It has foreign peace-keeping missions and maintains military status and is the equivalent of a federal military-status police force. As a police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri and the...
arrested the directeur sportif
Directeur sportif
A directeur sportif is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event...
of the team, Manolo Saiz
Manolo Saiz
Manuel "Manolo" Saiz Balbás is the former team manager of one of the most successful Spanish professional road bicycle racing teams, first called Team ONCE, then Liberty Seguros-Würth, Astana-Würth, and lastly Astana Team.Saiz was a hands-on manager and directeur sportif...
, and four others including Fuentes, accused of doping
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...
practices with riders. Spanish police raided residences. In one, belonging to Fuentes, they found a thousand doses of anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
s, 100 packets of blood products, and machines to manipulate and transfuse them. The Guardia Civil found a list naming other cyclists involved .
Liberty Seguros
Liberty Seguros
Liberty Seguros is an international subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Group, a Boston-based insurance company.-Cycling teams:Liberty Seguros sponsored the UCI ProTour cycling team, Liberty Seguros – Würth, but dropped the sponsorship on 25 May 2006 due to the Operación Puerto doping case, involving the...
withdrew their sponsorship, which left Würth
Würth
The Würth Group is a worldwide wholesaler of fasteners, screws and screw accessories, dowels, chemicals, furniture and construction fittings, tools, machines, installation material, automotive hardware, inventory management, storage and retrieval systems. Würth was founded in 1945 by Adolf Würth...
as sole sponsor.
Suspensions
As more names leaked to the press, asked riders to sign a statement that they had never worked with Fuentes, while the team suspended Santiago BoteroSantiago Botero
Santiago Botero Echeverry is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a España...
and José Enrique Gutiérrez
José Enrique Gutiérrez
José Enrique Gutiérrez Cataluña is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. His career highlights include second place overall at the 2006 Giro d'Italia, winning a stage of the Vuelta a España and two stages at the Dauphiné Libéré.Gutiérrez's name was brought up in the 2006 Operación...
, who had finished second in the 2006 Giro d'Italia
2006 Giro d'Italia
The 2006 Giro d'Italia was the 89th running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It was held from 6 May to 28 May 2006, and covered , beginning in the Belgian mining town of Seraing and ending in Milan...
. Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
organisers ASO
Amaury Sport Organisation
The Amaury Sport Organisation is part of the French media group, EPA . It organises sporting events including the Tour de France and Paris–Nice professional cycle road races, and the Dakar Rally...
considered withdrawing invitations to and Comunidad Valenciana
Comunidad Valenciana (cycling team)
-History:In 1979, Kelme sponsored the mountains classification in the Vuelta a España. The owners of Kelme were not satisfied with the publicity that this gave, so they decided to sponsor a cycling team instead....
. On June 1, the director of Valenciana, José Ignacio Labarta, resigned.
Würth found a new sponsor, five Kazakh
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
companies united under the name of the capital, Astana
Astana
Astana , formerly known as Akmola , Tselinograd and Akmolinsk , is the capital and second largest city of Kazakhstan, with an officially estimated population of 708,794 as of 1 August 2010...
, and became Astana-Würth. ASO withdrew Comunitat Valenciana's invitation, moving riders to send blood samples to be analysed to prove their innocence. The Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
considered expelling the team.
After El País published details of Operación Puerto, Spanish riders boycotted the Spanish National Road Race Championships, which was cancelled after 500 metres. ASO wrote asking Astana-Würth not to take part in the Tour de France, which the team ignored. Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...
, linked to Fuentes by the newspaper, threatened to sue El País.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an international arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sport. Its headquarters are in Lausanne and its courts are located in New York, Sydney and Lausanne, Switzerland...
(CAS) said Astana-Würth were to be accepted in the Tour. The Spanish authorities lifted the secret of summary two days before the start of the 2006 Tour, formally involving all 56 riders found in Fuentes' lists.
Because Ullrich and Óscar Sevilla were in the lists, T-Mobile suspended them. The example was followed by Ivan Basso's Team CSC and Francisco Mancebo
Francisco Mancebo
Francisco Mancebo Pérez is a Spanish pro cyclist. He initially rode for team Illes Balears, but moved to AG2R Prévoyance in 2006....
's AG2R Prévoyance
AG2R Prévoyance
Ag2r-La Mondiale is a French cycling team with UCI ProTour team status. Its title sponsors are the Ag2r Group, which is a French-based interprofessional insurance and supplementary retirement fund group, and the La Mondiale Group, which is a French-based international group for supplementary...
. ASO demanded all riders involved be withdrawn by their teams, even though Astana-Würth had received the support of the CAS.
The day before the Tour, Astana-Würth yielded to pressure. Five of their riders had been excluded by ASO for involvement in the scandal, leaving only four of the six riders required. Francisco Mancebo
Francisco Mancebo
Francisco Mancebo Pérez is a Spanish pro cyclist. He initially rode for team Illes Balears, but moved to AG2R Prévoyance in 2006....
, fourth the previous year and involved in the case, ended his career, according to his directeur sportif Vincent Lavenu
Vincent Lavenu
Vincent Lavenu is a French former professional road bicycle racer and is currently the team manager of the UCI ProTour cycling team.-Professional career:...
. As a result, none of the riders who finished in the top 5 of the 2005 Tour de France
2005 Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...
started in the 2006 edition.
On July 3, Würth also withdrew sponsorship of the team. They had planned sponsorship only if it were not excluded from a race.
Six days later, T-Mobile fired Rudy Pevenage
Rudy Pevenage
Rudy Pévenage is a former Belgian cyclist, and later in his career team coach of cycling teams such as Histor, La William, Team Bianchi and T-Mobile Team....
, directeur sportif, because he was also involved. On July 21, the team suspended Ullrich and Sevilla, effectively sacking them. On the same day, Spanish cycling newspaper Meta2Mil listed codenames used by Fuentes which had not been deciphered by police.
Additional leaks
In November 2006, El MundoEl Mundo (Spain)
El Mundo is the second largest printed and the largest digital daily newspaper in Spain and one of the newspapers of record in that country, with a daily circulation topping 300,000 readers for the printed edition and 24 million unique web visitors per month for the...
claimed that an anti-doping laboratory in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
which analyzed 99 bags of blood plasma
Blood plasma
Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...
seized in Operación Puerto found "high levels of erythropoietin
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...
(EPO)". This suggested athletes working with Fuentes had been boosting their performance in ways other than blood doping. El Mundo suggested those implicated had delegated their cheating to Fuentes, and would not have been able to control the level of EPO they were taking.
After studying the Barcelona lab's report, El Mundo described Fuentes's program as: riders would visit Fuentes a few weeks before a race and have blood removed. Fuentes would run the blood through a centrifuge
Centrifuge
A centrifuge is a piece of equipment, generally driven by an electric motor , that puts an object in rotation around a fixed axis, applying a force perpendicular to the axis...
, separating the blood plasma
Blood plasma
Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...
from the red blood cells. The cells would be re-injected shortly before competition, boosting resistance to fatigue. If haematocrit levels (volume of red blood cells) got dangerously high, they would re-inject plasma as well, enhanced with EPO, to dilute the red blood cells and avoid detection.
The Barcelona lab did not identify any athlete responsible for any of the 99 tested bags of blood.
Legal repercussions
On July 26, 2006, five Astana riders were cleared by Spanish courts. The five - Joseba BelokiJoseba Beloki
Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer.-Biography:Beloki turned professional in 1998 with Euskaltel-Euskadi, joined Festina in 2000, and then Team ONCE in 2001...
, Isidro Nozal
Isidro Nozal
Isidro Nozal Vega is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He has become somewhat famous for not showering during Grand Tours for fear that the water will soften his muscles...
, Sérgio Paulinho
Sérgio Paulinho
Sérgio Miguel Moreira Paulinho is a Portuguese road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He was a domestique in the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Tour de France....
, Allan Davis
Allan Davis
Allan Howard Davis is an Australian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . Born in Ipswich, Queensland, Davis resides in Bundaberg, Queensland and in Spain. Known for his sprinting ability, he started competitive cycling at the age of 10, and turned professional in 2002...
and Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
- received a document clearing them of links to Operación Puerto, the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco reported.
On October 8, the Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
court in charge of the case told the Spanish cycling federation, the Real Federación Española de Ciclismo (RFEC), that court documents could not be used in the federation's investigations.
On October 13, Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...
was cleared by Italian authorities due to lack of evidence. Ullrich was cleared by the Spanish courts on October 25. The judge ruled that Ullrich and Basso were put under investigation without proof of involvement.
On October 28, the RFEC closed disciplinary files against cyclists in the investigation. However, the RFEC will initiate disciplinary investigations on Manolo Sáiz. UCI
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
president Pat McQuaid was reported to feel let down by authorities in Spain. He hoped teams would require cyclists to submit DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
samples to clear their names. The investigations into Spanish riders were suspended.
On March 7, 2007, the case was dropped through lack of evidence of crime.
Admissions and evidence of doping
On 3 April , 2007, the German news agency sid said nine bags of blood marked Jan, number 1 or Hijo Rudicio (Son of Rudy) matched Jan Ullrich'sJan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...
saliva DNA. On 7 May, Basso admitted involvement with the scandal to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). On 9 May, Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi
Michele Scarponi is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .In 2006, Scarponi was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case...
admitted he was Zapatero in Fuentes' files. And on 30 June, Jörg Jaksche
Jörg Jaksche
Jörg Jaksche is a German road bicycle racer.He has been cycling professionally since 1997, racing for the teams Polti , Team Telekom , ONCE , CSC , Liberty Seguros-Würth/Astana and Tinkoff Credit Systems in 2007.In 2004, he won the Tour Mediterranean and the Paris–Nice race.In the 2005 Tour de...
admitted he was Bella.
Teams
-
- Astana-Würth
-
- Alberto ContadorAlberto ContadorAlberto Contador Velasco is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the team. With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Vuelta a España, the 2009 Tour de France, the 2010 Tour de France and won 2011 Giro...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 26, 2006). - Allan DavisAllan DavisAllan Howard Davis is an Australian professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . Born in Ipswich, Queensland, Davis resides in Bundaberg, Queensland and in Spain. Known for his sprinting ability, he started competitive cycling at the age of 10, and turned professional in 2002...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 26, 2006), investigation closed by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping AuthorityAustralian Sports Anti-Doping AuthorityThe Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority is a government department tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping....
(December 14). - Joseba BelokiJoseba BelokiJoseba Beloki Dorronsoro is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer.-Biography:Beloki turned professional in 1998 with Euskaltel-Euskadi, joined Festina in 2000, and then Team ONCE in 2001...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 26, 2006). - David EtxebarríaDavid EtxebarríaDavid Etxebarria Alkorta is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist.- Major wins :1996;**Win stage 12: Saint-Galmier - Saint-Flour**Win stage 16: Lannemezan - Pau*2000 - not finished*2001 - finished 34th...
- Isidro NozalIsidro NozalIsidro Nozal Vega is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He has become somewhat famous for not showering during Grand Tours for fear that the water will soften his muscles...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 26, 2006). - Unai OsaUnai OsaUnai Osa Eizaguirre is a Spanish former road bicycle racer. He is the younger brother of Aitor Osa. He was involved in the Operación Puerto doping case.-Palmarès:1999-External links:***...
- Sérgio PaulinhoSérgio PaulinhoSérgio Miguel Moreira Paulinho is a Portuguese road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He was a domestique in the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Tour de France....
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 26, 2006). - Michele ScarponiMichele ScarponiMichele Scarponi is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for UCI ProTeam .In 2006, Scarponi was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case...
- admitted he is Zapatero in Fuentes' files. Scarponi was suspended on May 16, 2007. - Marcos Serrano
- Ángel ViciosoÁngel ViciosoÁngel Vicioso Arcos is an Spanish road racing cyclist for UCI Professional Continental team .- Palmarès :20002001...
- Alberto Contador
Rasmus Lund removed from tour de Singapore, because of inappropiate beahviour, no team and a hematocrit value of 75.
-
- Comunidad ValencianaComunidad Valenciana (cycling team)-History:In 1979, Kelme sponsored the mountains classification in the Vuelta a España. The owners of Kelme were not satisfied with the publicity that this gave, so they decided to sponsor a cycling team instead....
-
- Vicente Ballester – removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006).
- David BernabeuDavid BernabeuVicente David Bernabeu Armengol is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer.- Palmarès :2002...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006). - David BlancoDavid BlancoDavid Blanco Rodríguez is a Spanish cyclist from Santiago de Compostela with .He began his professional career in 2000 with the Portuguese team Paredes Rota dos Moveis. His first success was in 2003, when he won a stage of the GP CTT Correios de Portugal, racing with Porta da Ravessa. Then he...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006). - José Adrián BonillaJosé Adrián BonillaJosé Adrián Bonilla Bonilla is a Costa Rican professional road bicycle racer born on April 28, 1978 in Paraíso, Costa Rica.He debuted professionally in 2004 with the team Comunidad Valenciana....
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006). - Juan Gomis – removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006).
- Eladio JiménezEladio JiménezEladio Jiménez Sánchez is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer. On December 7, 2009 the Union Cycliste Internationale announced that Jiménez had tested positive for erythropoietin after winning stage 6 of the 2009 Volta a Portugal. Three days later he announced his retirement...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006). - David Latasa – removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006).
- Javier Pascual Rodríguez – removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006).
- Rubén PlazaRubén PlazaRubén Plaza Molina is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for . He turned professional in 2001 with , before moving to Comunidad Valenciana...
– removed from the case by Spanish courts (July 28, 2006).
- Comunidad Valenciana
Individuals
-
- AG2R PrévoyanceAG2R PrévoyanceAg2r-La Mondiale is a French cycling team with UCI ProTour team status. Its title sponsors are the Ag2r Group, which is a French-based interprofessional insurance and supplementary retirement fund group, and the La Mondiale Group, which is a French-based international group for supplementary...
-
- Francisco ManceboFrancisco ManceboFrancisco Mancebo Pérez is a Spanish pro cyclist. He initially rode for team Illes Balears, but moved to AG2R Prévoyance in 2006....
– initially retired from cycling, but having severed ties with AG2R, joined Spanish professional continental team Relax-GamRelax-GamRelax-GAM Fuenlabrada was a professional cycling team based in Spain and participated in UCI Europe Tour and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events....
. In 2009 he raced with USA-based Rock RacingRock RacingRock Racing is a cycling team founded in 2007 by Michael Ball. The team is affiliated with Ball's Rock & Republic clothing. Rock Racing received media attention for hiring outcasts in the sport, including those tainted by performance enhancing drug scandals...
.
- Francisco Mancebo
- AG2R Prévoyance
-
- Caisse d'Epargne-Illes BalearsCaisse d'Epargne-Illes BalearsMovistar Team is a professional road bicycle racing team which participates in the UCI ProTour and has achieved twelve General Classification victories in Grand Tours...
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- Constantino ZaballaConstantino ZaballaConstantino Zaballa Gutiérrez is a professional road racing cyclist since 2001, currently riding for Portuguese UCI Continental team Centro Ciclismo de Loulé-Louletano-Aquashow. In 2005 he achieved his greatest victory by winning Clásica de San Sebastián...
- Alejandro ValverdeAlejandro ValverdeAlejandro Valverde Belmonte is a Spanish road racing cyclist currently under suspension. He last rode for UCI ProTour team . Valverde's biggest wins have been the 2009 Vuelta a España, the Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2006, 2008 and 2006 UCI ProTour series championship...
– the source of blood marked VALV.(PITI) (Piti being believed to be the name of Valverde's dog at the time). Valverde was suspended from racing in Italy from May 2009, and in May 2010 a two year suspension, backdated to 1 January 2010, was applied.
- Constantino Zaballa
- Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
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- Team CSCTeam CSCTeam Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...
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- Ivan BassoIvan BassoIvan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...
– Basso's contract with CSC was terminated by mutual agreement on October 18, 2006. On October 27, 2006 the case was dropped by the Federazione Ciclistica ItalianaFederazione Ciclistica ItalianaThe Italian Cycling Federation or FCI is the national governing body of cycle racing in Italy.The FCI is a member of the UCI and the UEC....
due to lack of evidence, and he was then employed in December 2006 by Discovery ChannelDiscovery Channel Pro Cycling TeamDiscovery Channel Pro Cycling Team was a United States-based professional road bicycle racing team. It was the continuation of the 2004 U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, was its leader until July 2005...
. On April 24, 2007 Basso was suspended by Discovery Channel when the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) reopened his case. On 1 May 2007 Basso requested to be released from his Discovery Channel contract. This was granted. Basso attended a hearing on May 2, and on May 7, 2007, admitted that he was Birillo. Basso was suspended on May 16, 2007. - Fränk SchleckFränk SchleckFränk René Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . At the start of 2005, Schleck was joined by his younger brother Andy on , and they split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial...
- Schleck admitted transferring nearly 7000 euros to a bank account held by Dr. Fuentes, but denied any doping or personal contact with Fuentes.
- Ivan Basso
- Team CSC
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- Phonak Hearing SystemsPhonak (cycling team)Phonak was a Swiss professional cycling team from 2000 until 2006. The team was one of 20 teams in the first UCI ProTour in 2005...
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- José Ignacio Gutiérrez
- José Enrique GutiérrezJosé Enrique GutiérrezJosé Enrique Gutiérrez Cataluña is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. His career highlights include second place overall at the 2006 Giro d'Italia, winning a stage of the Vuelta a España and two stages at the Dauphiné Libéré.Gutiérrez's name was brought up in the 2006 Operación...
- Santiago BoteroSantiago BoteroSantiago Botero Echeverry is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a España...
– case dropped by disciplinary committee of the Federación Colombiana de Ciclismo (October 2, 2006).
- Phonak Hearing Systems
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- Saunier Duval-ProdirSaunier Duval-ProdirGeox-TMC is a Spanish-based road bicycle racing team, registered for 2011 as a UCI Professional Continental team. Established as Saunier Duval-Prodir in 2004, the team has had success in one-day races such as Clásica de San Sebastián....
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- Carlos ZárateCarlos Zárate (cyclist)Carlos Zárate Fernández is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He turned professional with Kelme in 2004 before moving to Saunier Duval-Prodir in 2006, where he stayed until the end of 2007....
- Koldo GilKoldo GilKoldo Gil Pérez is a Spanish professional road racing cyclist, currently riding for the UCI Continental team Liberty Seguros Continental...
- Carlos Zárate
- Saunier Duval-Prodir
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- T-Mobile TeamT-Mobile TeamHTC-Highroad is a professional cycling team competing in international road bicycle races. Their current title sponsor is HTC Corporation, a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones. High Road Sports is the management company of team manager Bob Stapleton. Past title sponsors include Columbia...
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- Óscar SevillaOscar SevillaÓscar Miguel Sevilla Ribera , nicknamed El Niño, is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He is a climber with a pedigree in stage races, having finished in the top ten of the Tour de France and Vuelta a España several times...
- codename Sevillano. - Jan UllrichJan UllrichJan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...
- DNA tests confirmed that the 9 bags that were marked Jan, number 1 or Hijo Rudicio (Son of Rudy) all contained Jan Ullrich's blood. An alleged doping plan was published in the newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, where Ullrich's suspected doping during the first week of the 2005 Tour de France2005 Tour de FranceThe 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...
was described.
- Óscar Sevilla
- T-Mobile Team
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- Tinkoff Credit SystemsTinkoff Credit SystemsTinkoff Credit Systems was a professional continental cycling team based in Italy that had UCI Professional Continental status, raced in UCI Continental Circuits races and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events...
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- Tyler HamiltonTyler HamiltonTyler Hamilton is a former American professional road bicycle racer and former Olympic gold medalist. Hamilton became a professional cyclist in 1995, and during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tour de France was a teammate of Lance Armstrong who won those races.Hamilton appeared at the 2000 Summer...
- at the time of the initial investigation, Hamilton was suspended for a prior doping offence. PolitikenPolitikenPolitiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
, a Danish newspaper, published details of alleged doping diary of Hamilton during the 2003 season when he rode for Team CSCTeam CSCTeam Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...
. It described intake of EPO, growth hormones, testosterone and insulin on 114 days during the 200 day season of 2003. According to allegations originally published in El País, Hamilton is to have paid over €43,000 to Fuentes and that in 2003 Hamilton took erythropoietin, blood transfusions, growth hormone, a hormone taken by menopausal women and anabolic steroids. - Jörg JakscheJörg JakscheJörg Jaksche is a German road bicycle racer.He has been cycling professionally since 1997, racing for the teams Polti , Team Telekom , ONCE , CSC , Liberty Seguros-Würth/Astana and Tinkoff Credit Systems in 2007.In 2004, he won the Tour Mediterranean and the Paris–Nice race.In the 2005 Tour de...
- at the time of the initial investigation, Jaksche rode for Astana-Würth. On June 30, 2007, Jaksche admitted to Der Spiegel that he used Fuentes' services. He said that he was Bella, or number 20. Jaksche had been under suspension by Tinkoff Credit Systems since May.
- Tyler Hamilton
- Tinkoff Credit Systems
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- UnibetUnibetUnibet is an online gambling company that offers online poker, online casino, scratch cards, sports betting, live betting, bingo and soft games. The company is headquartered in Malta and owned by the Nordic OMX listed public company Unibet Group plc...
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- Carlos García QuesadaCarlos García QuesadaCarlos García Quesada is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He turned professional with Kelme in 2002, and stayed with them until the end of 2005. In 2006, he moved to Unibet.com. However, in 2006, his name was linked to the Operación Puerto doping case and was sidelined by his team...
- Carlos García Quesada
- Unibet
Already retired or suspended
- Michele BartoliMichele BartoliMichele Bartoli is a retired Italian road racing cyclist. He was a single-day race specialist, winning three of the five Monument races. Bartoli won the UCI Road World Cup in 1997 and 1998.-Biography:...
- on May 25, 2007 La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Bartoli was connected to Fuentes with the code name Sansone. Bartoli has not commented on this accusation. - Ángel CaseroAngel CaseroÁngel Luis Casero Moreno is a retired Spanish road bicycle racer who raced professionally between 1994 and 2005....
- Roberto HerasRoberto HerasRoberto Heras Hernández is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the Vuelta a España a record-tying three times. He broke the record with a fourth win in 2005, but was disqualified for taking EPO. In June 2011, Heras successfully appealed the disqualification in the civil court...
- Santiago PérezSantiago Pérez (cyclist)Santiago Pérez Fernández is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for Barbot-Efapel....
- Marco PantaniMarco PantaniMarco Pantani was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely considered one of the best climbers in professional road bicycle racing...
(deceased) Corriere della SeraCorriere della SeraThe Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
reported that Pantani was connected to Fuentes with the code name PTNI in 2003.
Other athletes
On 5 July 2006, Fuentes was indignant that only cyclists had been named and said he also worked with tennis and football players. On July 27, 2006, IAAFInternational Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
was assured by Spanish prosecutors that no track and field athletes
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
were involved. On September 23, 2006, former cyclist Jesús Manzano
Jesús Manzano
Jesús María Manzano Ruano is a former Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He is famous as the whistleblower of systematic doping within his cycling team and his statements led the Guardia Civil to conduct the Operación Puerto investigation around the sport doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.-Cycling...
told reporters from France 3
France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
that he had seen "well-known footballers" from La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
visit the offices of Dr Fuentes.
In May 2007 Sepp Blatter
Sepp Blatter
Joseph S. Blatter , commonly known as Sepp Blatter, is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA . He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007, and 2011...
, president of FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
, at a World Anti-Doping Agency
World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency , , is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee . It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a result of what was called the "Declaration of Lausanne", to promote, coordinate and...
meeting in Montreal, was reportedly interested in the contents "of the Puerto file". Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
had reported in December 2006 that they had possession of documents of Fuentes detailing "seasonal preparation plans" for Spanish football clubs FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
and Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
. These plans did not specifically name any players.
This news seem to be only rumors, since the French journal lost its trials in 2009 and 2011 against the FC Barcelona because he could not produce any proof of its allegations. In the ultimate judgement, on 2011-11-14, it was condemned to pay 15,000 euros of indemnity for "using false and unverified facts".
No other athletes had been named.