Astana deny connections with Michele Ferrari

Astana insists that the team “does not collaborate with any suspicious doctor” after a leaked report linked Jakob Fuglsang to banned doping doctor Michele Ferrari.

Claiming to have cited a secret 24-page report commissioned by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), Politiken reported Ferrari was seen with the team last year and recently met with Alexey Lutsenko and Jakob Fuglsang.

Ferrari has been banned from working in any kind of sport since 2012 after he failed to contest a charge from USADA accusing him of administering and trafficking prohibited substances.

Astana has released a statement denying any such associations.

“Astana Pro Team is committed to the fight against doping in sport. The team requires from all its affiliated riders that they comply all time with all obligations under anti-doping regulations, including the prohibition to be associated with banned individuals or doctors.

“The team does not collaborate with any suspicious doctor, such as Dr Michele Ferrari. The riders are not authorized to consult any doctors external to the team in order to perform any activity, or to be prescribed any diet or treatment, related to their performance.

“The team is in contact with the UCI and CADF in order to know more; it will collaborate with any inquiry that could be opened by CADF or the UCI.

“However, for the time being, no procedure has been initiated against any rider affiliated to the team. The Astana Pro Team trusts that if the CADF had any evidence of wrongdoing by any rider of the team, disciplinary proceedings would have been immediately initiated in accordance with anti-doping regulations and the World Anti-doping Code.”