2 doctors linked to cyclists banned
Anti-doping agency bars physicians and trainer who worked with Armstrong and Postal Service team.
Two doctors and a team trainer with Lance Armstrong’s cycling teams during his run of seven consecutive Tour de France titles received lifetime sports bans Tuesday from the U.S. Anti-doping Agency for doping violations.
Dr. Luis Garcia del Moral of Spain, Dr. Michele Ferrari of Italy and trainer Jose “Pepe” Marti of Spain all were found to have participated in what USADA describes as a “sophisticated, far-reaching doping conspiracy” with the U.S. Postal Service team.
The three were not available for comment.
Ferrari, Del Moral and Marti did not seek arbitration or request an extension — as Armstrong has done — to respond to charges brought by a USADA review board.
“Permanently banning these individuals from sport is a powerful statement that protects the current and next generation of athletes from their influence, and preserves the integrity of future competition,” agency Chief Executive Travis Tygart said in a statement.
Armstrong has been charged by a USADA review board with engaging in the doping conspiracy, but he has repeatedly professed his innocence, citing hundreds of clean drug tests.
On Tuesday, Armstrong’s attorneys refiled a lawsuit seeking to stop the agency from stripping the cyclist of his seven titles.
A day after U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks in Austin, Texas, dismissed Armstrong’s lawsuit, and called it an attempt to sway public opinion, attorneys shortened the filing by more than 80 pages. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop USADA from demanding that Armstrong either accept the loss of his titles or request an arbitration hearing by Saturday.
Del Moral was team physician for the U.S. Postal Service team that counted Armstrong as a member from 1999 to 2003. The agency found that Del Moral helped riders use banned performance-enhancing drugs, including the bloodbooster EPO and steroids.
According to USADA, Ferrari was a consulting doctor to numerous u.s. Postal Service and Discovery Channel team riders from 1999 through 2006, and “developed a distinctive mixture of testosterone and olive oil to be administered under the tongue to assist in recovery during races and training.”
Marti, as trainer for the Postal Service and Discovery teams from 1999 through 2007, “delivered performance-enhancing drugs” to riders in Europe, USADA said.