Holczer: "Cycling is destroying itself"

Among the team managers, Wegmann's boss Hans-Michael Holczer and T-Mobile's Bob Stapleton, have the reputation of fighting hard against doping. Stapleton regretted that there are still too many teams that tolerate doping. Holczer, who switched careers to get into cycling (he used to be a teacher), does not have the traditional cycling background. He wants to do away with all team managers, soigneurs and doctors who are connected with doping.

He mentions that during the last meeting with the UCI in Geneva there were still a lot of "conspicuous blood values of Spanish and Portuguese riders." It is a sign for him that "some still haven't gotten it." That's why he doesn't want to create the vision that there is going to be a clean Tour, though he thinks it will be cleaner.

Holczer read the Spiegel interview with Jaksche. "Sometimes I had to force myself to continue reading. That went beyond my imagination. Cycling is in the process to kill itself with the force of a suicide," Holczer contended. He is especially annoyed about the easy obtainment of Therapeutic use exemptions (TUE). His team has used six throughout 2006, while others obtain many more.

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Unlike his manager, Fabian Wegmann is less eager to read the paper anymore. "That would bring me down - not good for motivation," he is quoted on dpa. This worked for him as he is now the German Champion. "I didn't read the Jaksche interview. I have no idea what it contains."

Wegmann is not considered someone who has 'weird' performance explosions. Last year he attacked a few times in the Tour and afterwards felt the efforts "for five days." He expects days where he won't be well this year, either.