A few days ago, Irish journalist Paul Kimmage congratulated Daniel Benson of Cyclingnews for being the only journalist to ask Sky rider Mat Hayman about his relationship with notorious former Sky doctor Geert Leinders. While it’s admirable that a single journalist asked a single rider about a single doctor, how many more doctors should we be asking about, and how many more questions should we be asking?

What follows is a run-down of just some of the more notorious doctors currently earning a living in the sport of cycling.

from Daniele Tarsi’s Twitter feed

Daniele Tarsi – Vini Fantini

A colourful character who has been around for a fair few years. He’s been team doctor at, amongst others, ZG, Refin, Casino, Saeco, Lampre, Phonak, Acqua Sapone, and Farnese Vini.

Back in 1998 Tarsi was involved in the Bologna doping scandal and stood trial along with Ferrari but was eventually acquitted in 2004. In 1998 while doctor at Casino, Rodolfo Massi took the polka dot jersey in the Tour before being arrested the next day for use and distribution of drugs. Other riders Tarsi “coached” included Hamilton, Camenzind, Bo Hamburger, Di Luca, and Piepoli. He was also the doctor in charge when Patrik Sinkewitz was busted in 2011 for HGH use while at Farnese Vini. Interestingly, Tarsi is secretary of the Italian Association of Cycling Doctors.

Andrea Andreazzoli – Astana

Former doctor at Lampre, now at Astana. Andrea was investigated as part of the Mantova investigation, but was cleared in January of 2012 and adjudged to have committed no crime. In fact, he was described as “a respected professional of the first order who had seen his name sullied by a bad history of doping in cycling.”

Marco Pallini with Guido Bontempi

Marco Pallini – Team Columbia (was Astana in 2012)

Another colourful character. Been around a while, doctor at Jolly Componibili, Mercatone-Saeco, then Lampre, Tinkoff, and Astana. Some of his athletes include Cipollini, Salvoldelli, Gotti, Cunego, Astarloza, and Contador. Has followed Marinelli and Bontempi around for a few years. Being investigated currently as part of the Mantova enquiry.

Simone Uliari – Astana

The respected Uliari has had articles published in conjunction with none other than the equally respected Francesco Conconi. Uliari has been overshadowed somewhat by other Conconi disciples such as Ferrari and Cecchini.

Max Testa – BMC

Testa (right) with Eric Heiden in their testing lab

Early in his career, Testa worked as a team physician for several European teams, including 7-11, Motorola, and Mapei. Stephen Swart recalls an occasion when the team gathered in Testa’s room, where he had a centrifuge to check that their hematocrit was as close to 50 as they could get prior to the 1995 Tour de France. Testa even had his own lab on Lake Como where Armstrong, Andreu, Livingston, and Hincapie all lived and trained. Testa told David Walsh for LA Confidentiel “My job was to discourage them from taking things but at the same time leave the door open if they had a problem.” Has worked with a diverse range of cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Andy Hampsten, and Davis Phinney. Testa and Dr. Eric Heiden, the former Olympic speed skater and cyclist, are long-time friends and medical colleagues. Heiden persuaded Testa to come to the United States, and together they developed the UC Davis Performance Center in Sacramento, Calif. Heiden and Testa moved their respective practices to Murray, Utah, in 2006 to work with The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) and with various Olympic teams, including speed skaters and cyclists. Testa runs his Max Testa Training Centre there in addition to his work with BMC.

Giovanni Ruffini – BMC

Giovanni was previously at Mapei where he worked with Max Testa, and in 2010 he moved to Footon Servetto were he worked alongside the infamous Ibarguren Taus.

Dario Spinelli – BMC

Worked at Mapei with Ruffini and Testa.

Raquel Ortolano – Euskaltel

The first female on the list. She was the team doctor at Liberty Seguros at the time of the Puerto raids. Somehow she got herself a job at Astana until Vinokourov was caught blood doping, and eventually left the team when Johan Bruyneel arrived and cleaned up the team/brought in his own doctors (depending on which one you believe)

Sergio Quilez – Euskaltel

Also on the medical team at Liberty Seguros with Ortolano at the time of the Puerto raids. Both he and Raquel are called as witnesses in the 2013 trial.

Manuel Rodriguez Alonso – Orica GreenEDGE

Manuel Rodriguez has been around a bit: doctor for the Spanish Olympic committee from 1996 to 2004, and Team Doctor at ONCE, Mapei (with Testa and Ruffini), and Quick Step. He even did a three-year spell at Real Madrid as their professor of nutrition counseling and sports performance. Former pro Patrick Sinkewitz explicitly named Rodriguez as administering doping products at QuickStep.

Massimo Besnati – Katusha

Katusha team have helpfully removed the names of all of their doctors from their website, so maybe they all left at the end of 2012, but up until that point, Besnati was most certainly their lead doctor. Formerly with Mapei-QuickStep, Alessio-Bianchi, and Fuji-Servetto before moving on to work at Footon with Ibarguren and Ruffini. The Italian is a fierce defender of the notorious Luigi Cecchini, and was investigated in 2001 and prosecuted for possession of steroids while Mapei team doctor.

Thomas Klimaschka – Katusha

Formerly at Leopard Trek, he is most well known for being the doctor at Phonak from 2004 to 2006 before moving on to Predictor Lotto. Names such as Botero, Hamilton, and Landis have all tested positive under his supervision. After the publication of The Secret Race, Tyler Hamilton stated in a German news interview that he was transfused during the 2004 Tour de France by Phonak team doctor Klimaschka when Fuentes couldn’t get to him because the hotel was surrounded by press.

Andrei Mikhailov – Katusha

Was the doctor at the centre of the TVM scandal in 1998. Was found guilty of supplying EPO and sentenced to one year probation and fined 60,000 Francs (about $8000). Previously at Collstrop, Lotto, and Unibet.

Carlo Guardascione – Lampre

Been at the team since around 2005 and before that was at Saeco. Is currently being investigated in the Mantova Enquiry.

The happy Cannondale trio of Angelluci, Corsetti, and Magni (photo from the Liquigas Cannondale team page)

Emilio Magni – Liquigas Cannondale

Emilio started out as Team Doctor at Mercatone Uno, where he was hired specifically to look after team leader Marco Pantani. In 2001 he moved to Fassa Bortolo where, in 2001, he was the subject of an investigation into doping practices. He was alleged to be responsible for doping the likes the of Bartoli, Casa Grande and Rumsas. Currently providing medical advice for young talent Peter Sagan.

Roberto Corsetti – Liquigas Cannondale

Believed to be one of the redacted names in the USADA documents. Corsetti represented Franco Pellizotti in his case against the Italian National Anti Doping Agency, which saw Pellizotti cleared.

Jesus Hoyos – Movistar

Formerly at Banesto, Hoyos was one of three doctors, along with Celaya and Fuentes, who went on the offensive in November 2000, attempting to refuting then-UCI President Hein Verbruggen’s claim that “organised doping may exist in the sport.” Oversaw Alejandro Valverde’s training in preparation for his return to cycling as a Movistar rider following a two-year doping suspension.

Jose Ibarguren Taus – Quickstep

Ibarguren really needs no introduction. Formerly the doctor at Lampre, Euskaltel, Saunier Duval, and Footon Servetto. You can read more about him here.

Boonen sees the doctor during the Tour of Qatar 2011

Yvan Van Mol – QuickStep

Formerly the doctor at Mapei, he has now been with Lefevere in excess of ten years. Accused of administering doping products by numerous former riders. In 2007 he admitted being aware of doping at Mapei but denied actively participating in it. Also in 2007, an anonymous QuickStep rider – in a leaked email that forced Johan Museeuw to admit to his own doping – said, “At QuickStep there are three levels. The bottom level, who receive nothing, Lefevere barely knows their names. The second level, the key domestiques, they receive a little. And then you have the top guys, they receive EPO, HGH, Cortisone, whatever they need. You pay Van Mol a set amount each year, and he makes sure you have the supplies and tells you the quantities.”

Pieter Lagrou – Vacansoleil

Part of the 2009 Astana team that was investigated after transfusion products were found dumped in the trash.

Geert Leinders

Geert Leinders (Getty images)

Long and checkered past. Makes a cameo appearance in Joe Parkin’s 2008 book, A Dog in a Hat, as the doctor who doped riders as witnessed by the author during his career racing professionally in the European classics and kermesses. Most recently affiliated with Team Sky, the ex-Rabobank doctor has been in the press a lot of late. Accused by many former Rabobank riders of doping them during his time with the team. Michael Rasmussen named Leinders as being at the heart of the Rabobank doping culture. Leinders was questioned in January for three hours by Belgian cycling authorities as part of their ongoing criminal investigation of him. He joined Sky late in 2010 and left the team in 2012.

Team Sky have undoubtedly made a rod for their own back with their “clean team” policy by then hiring a doctor who we now know was behind much of Rabobank’s doping program during the last decade. But it demands that we all – journalists and fans alike – ask the question, “Why aren’t we asking a lot more questions of a lot more teams about a lot more people?”

Editor’s note: we acknowledge the work of http://www.dopingzaak.nl/ and http://www.dopeology.org/ in creating extensive databases where you can further research this topic.

The latest news from highly respected anti-doping expert Sandro Donati confirms what many of us suspected in the 90s when Miguel Indurain dominated the racing scene. The fact that someone of Big Mig’s height and weight could climb better, stronger, and faster than the pure climbers of the era turned many of us away from the sport, myself included. Indurain’s stranglehold on cycling was as laughable as the efforts of RCS to ensure Francesco Moser (also a well known client of Francesco Conconi) won his hallowed Grand Tour in 1984. The only difference was Indurain didn’t have to use a helicopter to ensure his victories. No, Indurain preferred to use chemical means through the good doctor Conconi, who was one of many practicing the dark arts that came out of Eastern Bloc research of the 60s and 70s, built on the foundation of the Germans in the 30s and 40s.

So here we are with the doping beachhead of the 90s, or the naughties, as several journalists have taken to calling it. Sure, Indurain doped. Pantani doped. Armstrong doped. However, we’re again missing the point entirely, and are in danger of repeating our mistakes. How so?

There are currently two types of “back room boys” in cycling. By “back room boys,” I mean the managers, the support staff, and the doctors who are involved in the sport. There are those who are telling the truth, and those who wish to “leave things in the past” by refusing to talk about their history. From a psychological perspective, if those who have done naughty things in the past are allowed to skate away without being confronted, they may feel they have “carte blanche” to continue their activities, or perhaps slip back into old habits.

I recently went on a Twitter rant about Team Sky in this respect. I compared Geert Leinders at Sky to Ferrari working at US Postal during the Lance era. This in itself really isn’t a fair comparison, as Ferrari was never directly paid by US Postal for his work with Armstrong, while Leinders was paid and directly employed by Team Sky. My issue with Leinders working with Team Sky is the fact that a doctor who has multiple fingers pointed at him for doping practices has had direct contact with riders at Team Sky. How can Team Sky guarantee Leinders didn’t make side deals with riders to help their performance? How can Team Sky guarantee that Leinders didn’t employ questionable “techniques” on riders without their knowledge? How can Team Sky guarantee Leinders isn’t still in contact with riders at the team?

While Team Sky stated they’ve conducted a sufficient investigation into Leinders, my concern is that there are situations which haven’t yet been revealed which could damage Team Sky’s reputation in the future. What also bothers me is that Team Sky ignored inquiries from multiple journalists during Leinders’ tenure at the team, as Paul Kimmage documented on Twitter a few weeks back. Why are Team Sky reluctant to address the Leinders questions publicly? Why not release bio-passport information to skilled scientists such as Mike Ashenden to say for certain that Leinders had no biological impact on the team? And what if Leinders did have an impact? Team Sky has the opportunity to proactively address the issue, rather than reactively try dispose of skeletons which could scuttle the Team Sky experiment entirely.

The danger of not acknowledging this past and avoiding a public discourse on Leinders leads us to what could be the end result for the future for Team Sky: the Jim Ochowicz conundrum. You see, teams that just continually attempt to ignore their employees’ past sins run the danger of stacking problem on top of problem on top of problem until the skeletons are piled so high you can’t even see the ocean.

Jim Ochowicz with John Lelangue at the 2012 Tour de France. Will Ochowicz be subjected to more scrutiny? (image courtesy Casey B. Gibson via velonews.com)

Ochowicz has a long history in cycling and he’s one who has been “around” whenever controversy has occurred. 1984 and blood doping at the Olympics? Ochowicz was there alongside Edmund Burke, who performed the procedures deemed illegal. Alexi Grewal’s positive test? Ochowicz’s name popped up. Chris Carmichael gets sued by Greg Strock and Alex Keiter? Ochowicz was USA Cycling president and the case was magically settled out of court. Thomas Weisel torpedoes his Motorola team and creates US Postal out of the ashes? Ochowicz goes to work for Weisel and went on to manage money at Thomas Weisel Partners (TWP) for UCI president Hein Verbruggen. After that, Ochowicz consulted for Team Phonak, which had almost every major star busted for doping in some form or fashion. And of course Ochowicz’s current team hasn’t escaped dodgy insinuations, with Sven Schoutteten, a BMC soigneur, being arrested in 2011 in connection with a drug mule sting in Brussels. What did Och have to say about that? “A part-time soigneur for us? His name means nothing to me. I also don’t know anything about an arrest. This is the first I’ve heard of it,” he claimed, even though the soigneur’s name appeared on the official BMC staff roster.

The danger with Ochowicz’s interesting links coming to light is that it can cause damage for his bright young stars – Taylor Phinney and Tejay Van Garderen among them – who are at the forefront of a culture change in the sport. It also wrongly casts shadows of suspicion on riders such as Cadel Evans. Is this fair for the sport? In light of the fact that representation for Team BMC said it “wasn’t appropriate” for Ochowicz to make any public comments shows there’s the proverbial smoke that could lead to a disastrous fire for BMC, which could then prompt another Andy Rihs exit from pro cycling.

Ochowicz may well be a born-again anti-doping/anti-corruption crusader in spite of his past connections, links, and actions. However, unlike several of his counterparts who have been confessing to more transgressions than a Jerry Springer TV show guest, Ochowicz has chosen to duck in the ditch.

It is the wrong choice.

This is the same mistake Team Sky is making by refusing to confront the Leinders issue with their hat in their hands and transparency in their heart. Both teams need to be willing to address their histories openly and honestly in order for the sport to move forward. Remaining tight-lipped and refusing to acknowledge the history of Ochowicz’s dubious links is just going to make the situation worse for the sport and for Team BMC. Team Sky refusing to discuss Leinders publicly and openly will eventually catch up to them the same way Ochowicz’s history is catching up with him and potentially tainting the BMC brand.

These teams and their actions aren’t above suspicion. However, It isn’t fair that one or two individuals sour the whole barrel of apples. But if you don’t rummage around and pull out the bruised apple, we all know what eventually happens. The whole barrel becomes rotten.

It’s time for these “rotten apples” to expose their bruises and come clean with their activities. The alternative is   for those in positions of influence in their teams or in the sport governing body to expose the “rotten apples” and remove them from the barrel. Permanently.

Leinders in happier times for Team Sky (photo courtesy cyclingnews.com)

“We are disappointed that other press associations haven’t followed suit with our refusal to give ink to this obvious attempt at smearing the good and clean name of Team Sky. This is just another attempt by the shadowy group known as “Sir Bradley Wiggo Haters” to try to expose some sort of secret conspiracy of no importance to the overall agenda for British Cycling,” stated the group in a press release.

In fact, The V,VBaPCPA was absolutely incensed the information was made public on the same day the prince of Team Sky, Chris Froome, won his first stage race in the famous black-with-a-little-Rapha-blue-for-good-measure cycling kit.

“It’s typical. Just typical. These rogue peoples going around trying to ruin our grand scheme of public relations PUFF pieces putting forward the notion that British Cycling and Team Sky are the absolute best in the world, and you should buy everything we tell you to, because well, that will just make us all that much more awesome,” concluded the press release.

However, not everything was rosy in The V,VBaPCPA camp, as Telegraph-sometimes-independent-thinker Brendan Gallagher sniffed out potential page hits and went ahead and broke the blockade Saturday afternoon.

“I’m all about raising my profile in any way I can. Lance, Wiggins, or Leinders. I’m sure the V,VBaPCPA will forgive me this one slip-up,” commented Gallagher.

V, VBaPCPA president Will Fotheringham and vice presidents David Walsh and

were not available directly for any comments, as they were attending a Team Sky Tour of Oman celebratory dinner. Team Sky flew in Robbie Williams, Leona Lewis, and the entire boy band One Direction for the celebration. Bradley Wiggins played guitar for Robbie Williams during an “unplugged” version of “No Regrets.” Richie Porte spent the bulk of the event flirting with Kylie Minogue, who was flown in special for the event by Sky brass. Chris Froome chose to skip the celebration in lieu of a cozy evening with girlfriend Michelle, but appeared via Skype before going to bed.

The gala was rumoured to cost Team Sky north of £10 million.

Non-British pundits were quick to jump on the Leinders situation.

“It’s typical of Team Sky to create some sort of über-event for a small stage race after the announcement of the Leinders investigation. If Team Sky thinks the police will only investigate his Rabobank records and stop there, I think they’re missing the boat huge. If I were them, I’d be doing some forensic cleansing right about now,” stated one pundit who resembled Charles Pelkey.

When asked about the Leinders investigation, beknighted Team Sky mastermind Sir Dave Brailsford was direct.

“Wasn’t that a fabulous celebration last night? I wish I could find a way to have Sir Bradley and Chris tie for Tour de France victory. Wouldn’t it be brilliant to have two simultaneous victors on top of the final step in Paris with the fireworks? Brad could play guitar, and Chris could sing Wonderwall!” exclaimed an excited Brailsford.

Team Sky spokespeople confirmed, “Leinders has nothing to do with us, and please buy our Team Sky Rapha Jeans. They’re a steal at £350.”

Dutch investigators have stated that the Leinders inquiry begins with Rabobank rider confessions, but “doesn’t end there,” which may make the attempts by The V,VBaPCPA to bury the facts of the case much more problematic.

Team Sky DS Sean Yates poses with Philou Maire, the alleged Motoman of Nice.

“We understand there were photos showing Sean Yates and one of our team vehicles in front of the bike shop owned by Philou Maire, as revealed on Facebook. Based upon this information, we are conducting an internal investigation to determine if our organisation has an exposure in this business,” stated Brailsford at a press conference outside a Limburg cheese factory.

Questions arise from the apparent relationship between Team Sky and the “Motoman of Nice.”

“Those photos have subsequently been removed, we’re not sure by whom, but we’ll continue to ensure that our team is 100% clean as defined by legal parameters contained in the WADA code, including ensuring our biological passports don’t look significantly strange,” continued Brailsford.

The Team Sky Dr. Evil doppelganger went on to echo sentiments laid out by other team managers, including, Bjarne Riis of Saxobank-Tinkoff. The marginal gains mastermind also commented on how difficult it is to operate a team in cycling without having some sort of connections to “past doping infractions.”

“Look, we’ve instituted a rule that says only one of our support staff can have dubious connections to potentially dubious characters who may or may not have supplied some sort of doping products in the past. Now we have two that I’m aware of, which is why we’re doing this investigation,” stated Brailsford.

Yates and the “Motoman of Nice” out on a casual ride together

When asked why he hired Leinders after it was revealed in the Dutch press prior to his hire that Leinders had iffy connections from the Rabobank days, Brailsford offered his appraisal of that particular situation.

“He had a great CV. Good experience in cycling. And the allegations were printed in the Dutch press. Since they weren’t written in English, they didn’t count at the time,” concluded Brailsford.

Brailsford refused to give any details on the internal investigation, or when it would take place, or if the results would be made public. Brailsford stated this was keeping within the operational guidelines of the sport as set out by the UCI.

Both Leinders and Yates refused any public comments on their respective situations. Yates refused to confirm or deny any sort of relationship with Maire, and refused to comment on any of the photos that depicted Yates and Maire on rides together and team vehicles parked in front of Maire’s shop.

One pundit who attended the press conference and wished to remain anonymous felt the statements by Brailsford were “smellier than the Limburger cheese factory where the press conference was held.”

No word on if, when, or how this apparent investigation will unfold or conclude.