Sylvia Schenk, ex-President of the Bund Deutsche Radfahrer and member of the UCI management committee, has criticized the handling of the latest doping charges against Lance Armstrong, saying that the UCI and its president Hein Verbruggen "are less interested in the resolution of the Armstrong doping case than they are in finding the leak."
In an interview with Sport1.de, she said that the UCI is apparently looking for whoever it was who helped L'Equipe put a name to the samples. "Verbruggen is making progress slower than expected," she said. "At first they thought it was someone in the French Ministry. But the informer can also have been someone who works for the UCI." Schenk has previously denied to Cyclingnews that it could be her.
Schenk noted further that since 1998, much has been done to combat doping in cycling, "But everything is suddenly different when it comes to Armstrong...There is obviously a close relationship to Armstrong. For example, the UCI took a lot of money from Armstrong - as far as I know, $500,000. Now of course there is speculation that there are financial relationships to Armstrong as well as to the American market."
In addition, Schenk said that the German teams T-Mobile and Gerolsteiner had potential problems getting their Pro Tour licenses last year. The UCI's guidelines violate EC rules, she said, for example requiring the teams to hire all riders as salaried employees rather than as freelance workers. The two German teams wanted to protest that requirement, but, "The UCI threatened both teams with non-participation in the Pro Tour. And that would have upset the sponsors."
Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer
Cyclingnews coverage of the L'Equipe allegations
June 27, 2006 - Carmichael defends Armstrong, Armstrong answers L'Equipe & LeMond
June 26, 2006 - LeMond: "Armstrong threatened my life"
June 19, 2006 - Armstrong calls for Pound's exit
June 18, 2006 - Lance Armstrong's open letter against Dick Pound
June 4, 2006 - UCI hits back at WADA
June 3, 2006 - WADA slams the Vrijman report
June 2, 2006 - L'Equipe stands by its story, UCI supports Vrijman's findings
June 1, 2006 - UCI, WADA and Armstrong react to Vrijman's report
May 31, 2006 - UCI lawyer asks for Armstrong's name to be cleared
May 14, 2006 - Two more weeks for Armstrong investigation
Click here for full coverage of the L'Equipe allegations.
