Freiburg investigation widens after latest Sinkewitz statements

Investigators in Freiburg, Germany, are widening their investigation, based on the most recent statements from former T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz. He allegedly has given the names of other riders who went to the Freiburg University Clinic with him for blood transfusions after the first stage of the Tour de France 2006. "On the evening before the tour I rode with Andreas {Klöden} where we both received blood doping transfusions," he is alleged to have said, according to hln.be.

It is "not very probable, that Sinkewitz doped alone," Wolfgang Maier, a spokesman for the Freiburg prosecutor, told the German press agency dpa. Maier confirmed that Sinkewitz had named names in the most recent questioning. Previously he had always said that he had gone alone to the clinic. In order to discover which of the two versions of the story is correct, the investigators wanted to question not only additional cyclists, but also Sinkewitz' former girlfriend, who is supposed to have accompanied him to the clinic.

Maier said he hoped that now "things would start to move", and added that he was "more confident than last week" that the situation would be cleared up.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Sinkewitz specifically named Andreas Klöden and Matthias Kessler, but Maier would neither confirm nor deny which names were mentioned.