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Quickstep doctor Yvan Van Mol accused of importing PEDs

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29.06.2007/ A day after it became public that former Lotto rider Pierre Herinne accused Quickstep doctor Yvan Van Mol of boosting riders with steroids and growth hormone at an interrogation at court, 3 new witnesses also accused Van Mol.

Daily Belgian newspaper De Standaard reported that Herinne told the court that he went to Van Mol for a doping regimen in the eraly nineties. Herinne was racing for the Belgian Lotto team at that time that itself had no team doctor of its own.

Van Mol has been team doctor of the GB-MG team of Patrick Lefevere for which Johan Museeuw rode at that time. Van Mol is accused of to having prescribed steroids, a growth hormone and a testosterone enhanching drug.

Belgian daily newspapers Het Nieuwsblad and De Standaard who had access to the protocols of the interrogation qoute Herinne at following :  "Lotto did not have a team doctor at that time [1993 - 1994]. That's why I went to Van Mol. These riders were much better," Herinne submitted to protocol.

"Everybody supposed that Van Mol had prepared the guys of GB-MG perfectly well. That was 'not' that secret. We supposed a certain amount of consumation, yet it was not talked about doping publicly."

"I drove to the hospital of Herk-de Stad [Belgium]. Van Mol asked me wheter I wanted an undetectable treatment with steroids. I answered that I was interested in that."

Van Mol did not want to say much about the allegations. The doctor admitted that Pierre Herinne has been his patient "but  surely I did not prescribe forbidden substances to him."

A day after the allegations of Herinne were published by the two Belgian newspapers, Het Laatste Nieuws published a story today with 3 more witnesses accusing Van Mol beeing involved with performance enhanching drugs.

Doctor Flavio Alessandri, who worked at the GB-MG team for 6 months in 1993 , went to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) as early as in 1994. He stated that Van Mol at that time had imported a list of drugs ranging from the light coffein to epo and growht hormones and testosterone. According to Alessandri, Van Mol treated "nearly everybody" of the team. Even at that time he said he didn't knew whether the riders had to pay for those products. In an interview by telephone with Het Laatste Nieuws Alessandri confirmed that he still lives up to his word uttered before.

Rolf Järmann, who raced for the GB-MG team in 1994 had already admitted in 1999 that he had taken epo, "just like everybody else at that time." As of today he admits that there was a doping regimen in place and that doctor Van Mol has been a spin doctor in that system as well. "Several times I talked about epo and doping with Van Mol. He never ever forced me to inject drugs, yet he knew what was going on. The whole team talked about it. He hasn't been a bad doctor as he had alerted us to the dangers of the products," Järmann said. Järmann added that the riders could acquire epo via intern lines and that the medical staff limited the hematocrit measures at 52 or 54.

Zenon Jaskula rode in 1993 for GB-MG. In the same year Jaskula took the Tour de France mountain stage with the up hill finish at Pla d'Adet and took third overall behind Indurain and Rominger. In the years after Jaskula  vanished in to nowhere as far as result lists are concerned. "When I was under Van Mol I took cortisone while I haven't been injured and i did take caffeine as well. That was nothing special, yet it was forbidden," Jaskula said. Jaskula also stated that he never took epo and added: "I don't want to say that Van Mol did not work with it, he never ever passed anything to me. I am not Italian or Belgian: for those riders Van Mol kept in store a special kind of preparation. Them he administered a different kind of injection," Jaskula said.

Jaskula adds thinking about it, I rather have taken epo: "With I am now aware of, I would have taken it. Epo is like sugar, pretty much virgin," Jaskula concluded.

Het Laatste Nieuws also reports that they could not get contact with Yvan Van Mol and Patrick Lefevere to ask for a reaction.

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