Cofidis affair
The Cofidis affair was a doping scandal involving the French cycling team Cofidis . First investigations began in 2003, judgments against those involved were pronounced in 2007.
The investigations
On July 27, 2003, the final of the Tour de France took place in Paris . On the same day, the father of a deceased amateur cyclist contacted the investigative authorities in Nanterre , where the Équipe Cofidis was based, and gave evidence of doping in the cycling scene. This was followed by months of investigations and surveillance, which culminated in several raids in January 2004.
At the center of the investigation was the team's soigneur , Bogdan ("Bob") Madejak, who had already been involved in the doping affair surrounding Raimondas Rumšas in 2002; he came into custody and was suspended by the team. He is said to have been the main mastermind of a procurement and distribution system. This was followed by house searches at Cofidis' and team doctor Dr. Jean-Jacques Menuet, but without result, whereas they found what they were looking for in the former Cofidis driver Marek Rutkiewicz : when he returned to Paris from a trip from Warsaw , prohibited substances were found on him. The following house searches and interrogations concerned racing drivers Philippe Gaumont , Cédric Vasseur and Robert Sassone , who had a contract with Cofidis until the end of 2003. Testosterone , EPO and amphetamines were found at Sassone , whereupon he made a partial confession and named Rutkewicz and Gaumont as his suppliers. He also gave the authorities the information about a pharmacy in Paris where drivers could get doping substances without a prescription. At the end of January 2004, the new professional Daniel Majewski , a friend of Majedak, was seized from Spain and Italy for drugs that were not approved in France and used as masking substances. At the beginning of April, the next driver, Médéric Clain , came under suspicion. Evidence of complicity on the part of team manager Alain Bondue , dating back to 1999, grew stronger and stronger. He and team doctor Menuet were interrogated by the public prosecutor's office and suspended from the team, and finally they resigned from their offices - presumably under pressure from the sponsor.
The end of June 2004, even with the world champion in the time trial , the Scotsman David Millar , EPO ampoules empty found in a book hiding; his world title was revoked and he was banned for two years. His teammate Massimiliano Lelli admitted doping with EPO.
The investigations revealed that there was no internal doping in the Cofidis team. All those involved acted for themselves, albeit in an environment in which doping was considered normal and accepted.
In April 2004 a scientific paper by the doctor Dr. Jean-Christophe Seznec published in the sports magazine L'Équipe on doping practices of the team in 1999. The professional cyclists from Cofidis would have been intoxicated with high doses of the sleeping pill Stilnox in the evening between two stages : "The addiction problems arose in the course of this 1999 season [...] originally from a disturbed posture." Visited prostitutes, consumed Viagra , alcohol and presumably other drugs. As an initiation rite, newcomers to the team would mix medication into their food without their knowledge. L'Equipe also reported that Stilnox was ground by Cofidis drivers last fall, mixed with ephedrine and snorted like cocaine . Several drivers would have wanted to climb from one balcony to the other on the eighth floor of a hotel.
Legal proceedings
In November 2006, ten people were charged in Nanterre for importing, transporting, acquiring, surrendering and passing on doping substances and for inciting the consumption of doping substances or masking substances: the drivers Massimiliano Lelli, David Millar, Philippe Gaumont, Robert Sassone, Médéric Clain , Marek Rutkiewicz and Daniel Majewski had to answer in court alongside Boguslaw Madejak, the sports director Oleg Kozlitine and a pharmacist. Team doctor Jean-Jacques Menuet and his colleague Armand Mégret were not charged.
In the trial before the 12th Criminal Division of the Nanterre Regional Court, Philippe Gaumont admitted to having doped throughout his career. Doctors Menuet and Mégret were questioned as witnesses and denied Gaumont's allegations that they knew about the doping practices, supported them and did nothing about it. Menuet emphasized that he had once notified the Anti-Doping Commission about suspected doping in a driver. However, the primary task of a team doctor is to take care of the drivers, not to denounce them. He also asked for a psychologist for the team, as drivers suffered from sexual disorders due to sleeping pills and other substances and spent nights banging their heads against the wall. Presiding judge Ghislaine Polge reproached Madejak: “Did you let these young people, whom you describe as your sons, take drugs that could result in physical decline, madness and death?” She argued that the life expectancy of French cyclists until the end of the Second World War was above the average for the population, but since 1945 the trend has reversed.
After five court days, on January 19, 2007, the verdicts were pronounced. Millar and Lelli were acquitted because, in all likelihood, their crimes did not take place in France. Madejak received a one-year prison sentence, including nine months probation, the drivers Philippe Gaumont, Robert Sassone, Marek Rutkiewicz and Daniel Majewski six and Médéric Clain and Oleg Kozlitine three months probation each. The team's sponsor, Société Cofidis , who acted as a civil co-plaintiff, had to waive all claims. The presiding judge confirmed that Cofidis shared responsibility: "The rules on which race preparation at this high level is based, as well as the financial temptations and the desire for fame can influence the drivers in their choice of preparation."
Other incidents
In January 2004, cocaine residue was found in a sample of Cédric Vasseur's hair . Although the B sample was negative, Vasseur was not allowed to tour in 2004 . An investigation by the French authorities against him was closed in autumn 2004; In 2005 Vasseur was able to take part in the Tour de France for the seventh time. It turned out that the hair sample that was used to prove that the driver had used cocaine was not his, and fake signatures appeared under incriminating interrogation protocols. The public prosecutor's office investigated in police circles: In May 2006, a police officer was sentenced to ten months in prison for forging his signatures and had to pay Vasseur 10,000 euros .
During the investigation, five journalists were after they were tapped and their offices were searched in October 2005 for violating the secrecy of judicial inquiries remanded in custody because police files had become public. Le Monde reported on June 10, 2004 that there had been attempts throughout the investigation, including from the French Ministry of Sports, to influence the investigation. If the investigation had been expanded in accordance with the information available, other teams would not have been able to take part in the 2004 Tour de France , and other sports would have been affected. Cofidis team doctor Menuet also looked after French athletes.
Team member deaths
In the years following this doping affair, there were a total of three deaths of former team Cofidis drivers: Frank Vandenbroucke died in 2009 of a pulmonary embolism ; During the autopsy , a heart defect was also diagnosed and years of drug use were recorded. Philippe Gaumont suffered a heart attack in April 2013 and died around three weeks after being in a coma. Robert Sassone died in January 2016 at the age of 37; he took his own life because he had cancer .
See also
literature
- Monika Mischke: Doping Trials - 2003–2007 Nanterre, Cofidis Affaire . In: Ralf Meutgens (Hrsg.): Doping in cycling . Delius Klasing, Bielefeld, ISBN 978-3-7688-5245-6 , p. 301-302 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Cycling4Fans - Doping: 2003-2007 COFIDIS - Affaire. In: cycling4fans.de. Retrieved January 22, 2016 .
- ↑ Cofidis: Comeback with new bosses. In: radsport-news.com. April 10, 2004, accessed January 22, 2016 .
- ↑ Doping: COFIDIS 1999. In: cycling4fans.de. Retrieved January 22, 2016 .
- ↑ Jens Hungermann: Trial against Cofidis: Physical decline, madness and death. In: welt.de . November 8, 2006, accessed January 22, 2016 .
- ^ David Millar: Racing Through the Dark. Simon and Schuster, 2012, ISBN 978-1-451-68270-0 , p. 268 ( limited preview in Google book search).
- ^ Vasseur cleared of doping charges. cnn.com, accessed February 26, 2015 .
- ↑ n-tv news television: Doping allegations against Cofidis: So far eight charges. In: n-tv.de. November 22, 2012, accessed January 23, 2016 .
- ↑ sport-compact on sueddeutsche.de from May 17, 2010
- ↑ Ex-professional cyclist Gaumont declared brain dead. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , May 14, 2013, accessed on May 15, 2013.
- ↑ Former Cofidis professional Sassone died at the age of 37. In: radsport-news.com. November 23, 1978. Retrieved January 22, 2016 .
- ^ Décès de Robert Sassone, ancien champion du monde de cyclisme sur piste. In: francetvsport.fr. January 22, 2016, accessed January 22, 2016 (French).