Zabel Wants Ullrich & Basso to Give DNA Samples, Return to Racing

By Jessica | Permalink | No Comments | January 14th, 2007 | Trackback

No matter what Rolf Aldag says, Jan Ullrich’s former teammate Erik Zabel wants to see Ullrich return to racing, along with any other riders who haven’t yet faced formal doping charges. “As long as there is no formal proof incriminating the suspected riders and as long as they are only suspicions, people should let them practice their sport,” Zabel said at the Milram team presentation in Germany on Wednesday. “Ullrich and [Ivan] Basso should be able to reclaim their places in the peloton even if it’s going to make people start talking.”

Zabel also urged that any rider implicated in the Operacion Puerto doping scandal give a DNA sample as soon as possible, as it’s the quickest way to resolve the case. “They need to resolve this quickly,” Zabel said. “It is unfair to cycling in general and unfair to those riders.”

As far as I’m concerned, if riders can’t be formally charged with the evidence that’s been gathered by the time a doping investigation is made public, there’s something wrong with the investigation. And if mere speculation is going to sideline athletes in the prime of their careers, there’s something wrong with the system.

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