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22.12.2006/ Alm. Brand Extends with CSC, Erik
Zabel will be one of the leaders in the Christmas-race "Weihnachtspreis" in Dortmund, Official press release from CAS: Two years suspension
imposed on Aïtor Gonzales
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Alm. Brand Extends with CSC
The close relations between Team
CSC and the team's Danish co-sponsor Alm. Brand will continue. The insurance, banking and pension group has chosen to extend
its sponsorship with the team till 2008.
”We are very pleased with the effect our sponsorship of Team CSC has
had for the last three years. We make regular inquiries with our clients regarding their level of satisfaction with Alm. Brand
and the response we have gotten regarding the sponsorship is very positive – this year as well. The cycling sport has
a big place in the hearts of the Danish people. And we look forward to yet another year with great results and experiences,”
announces Henrik Nordam, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Alm Brand.
”It has been a turbulent year, but Bjarne
Riis and the team have taken action and shown great strength. It is imperative to Alm. Brand that Team CSC has chosen to lead
the way in the fight against doping, and that the team management and riders have made a commitment to each other with the
most extensive doping control program in the world. Alm. Brand supports this fight against doping and we would like to play
a part in turning things around. And Team CSC's groundbreaking program has been very important to the new sponsorship agreement
with Alm. Brand,” adds Henrik Nordam.
”I am very happy we have made a new sponsorship agreement with Alm.
Brand. We have had an excellent dialogue with them regarding the sponsorship and it means a lot to us, that we have been able
to deliver our product to their satisfaction. Through the years we have developed strong relations with Alm. Brand, and of
course we want to develop and strengthen these even further,” comments Bjarne Riis.
Erik Zabel will be one of the leaders in the Christmas-race "Weihnachtspreis"
in Dortmund
Erik Zabel and Robert Bartko will be the leaders of a German election in the
70th "Weihnachtspreis" in the Westfallenhalle in Dortmund on December, 26th.
Every year the international cycling elite
meets there for a competition between a German and an international election.
In recent years the German election with
Erik Zabel left the Dortmunder Westfalenhalle as the winner. The star among the international riders will be the Swiss rider
Bruno Risi. In October Zabel won the Sixdays of Dortmund, Risi was his partner there.
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| Erik Zabel races on December 26 (picture: Cyclingheroes) |
Official press
release from CAS: Two years suspension imposed on Aïtor Gonzales
Lausanne, 22 December 2006 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld
the appeal filed by the International Cycling Union (UCI) against the decision of the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) of
12 May 2006 concerning the Spanish cyclist Aïtor Gonzales. Accordingly, the athlete is suspended for a period of two years
starting on 28 September 2005.
Aïtor Gonzales, member of the
team Euskaltel, underwent an out-of-competition antidoping test on 26 August 2005 and a test during the Tour of Spain on 9
September 2005. The samples have been analyzed by the accredited laboratory of Madrid et have revealed the presence of a methyltestosterone
metabolite (stimulant). For his defence, Gonzales has alleged that he had ingested a contaminated food supplement, named “Animal
Pak”, prescribed by a doctor. On 12 May 2006, the RFEC decided that it was not clearly established that Aïtor Gonzales
had failed to comply with his duty of diligence and terminated the procedure after having sanctioned the athlete with a fine
for “serious fault” (omission to declare the ingestion of the food supplement before the antidoping tests).
On 29 June 2006, the UCI filed
a statement of appeal with the CAS in order to request the suspension of the athlete for a period of two years. The case was
submitted to a CAS Panel composed of Mr Jan Paulsson (France), President of the Panel, Mr José Juan Pintó (Spain) and Mr Beat
Hodler (Switzerland). The parties were heard by the arbitral Panel during a hearing which took place in Lausanne on 12 October
2006.
During the arbitration procedure,
Aïtor Gonzales has challenged the jurisdiction of the CAS and has confirmed his position regarding the use of a contaminated
food supplement. Like in the Landaluce case, the Panel has decided that the CAS had jurisdiction to hear the appeal filed
by the UCI.
The CAS arbitrators have admitted
the facts presented by Aïtor Gonzales but have considered that he did not acted without fault or negligence in using a doubtful
food supplement, prescribed by an occasional doctor and purchased in a fitness center. The athlete could not ignore the risks
related to such an ingestion taking into account the repeated warnings given in this regard by the sports authorities.
In conclusion, a two-year ban
is imposed on Aïtor Gonzales. The ban comes into force on 28 September 2005, namely on the date when the rider ceased to compete.
The full text of the CAS
award is published on the CAS website (www.tas-cas.org, French part, section “Jurisprudence”).
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