Madiot expresses 'surprise' and 'enormous disappointment' at Preidler doping confession
Groupama-FDJ manager Marc Madiot has expressed his "surprise" and "enormous disappointment" his rider Georg Preidler's confession to extracting blood for a possible transfusion.
As evidence of blood doping was uncovered by the Austrian police's 'Operation Aderlass' investigation, Preidler confessed to the authorities on Sunday and emailed Madiot to say he was resigning from the team with immediate effect.
In an interview with the Kronen Zeiting newspaper in Austria, Preidler claimed he had had blood extracted, but insisted he had not re-injected it, acknowledging that the "fraudulent intent" was a rule violation in itself.
"It was with surprise and disappointment that I learnt of the news involving Georg Preidler, through an email he sent to us yesterday," Madiot said, according the French newspaper Ouest France. "In his email, Georg informed me of his resignation with immediate effect, which I ratified straight away. Georg is therefore no longer part of our team as of yesterday.
"It's an enormous disappointment, because I had great trust in that rider. Unfortunately, that trust was betrayed. That's one of the hazards in the life of a team, and in life in general. I hope he'll be able to learn from his mistakes and will commit fully to shining a light on this affair."
Preidler's confession came just after another pro cyclist, his fellow Austrian Stefan Denifl, had been implicated in Operation Aderlass. The investigation, which is primarily focused on Nordic skiers, is centred around Dr. Mark Schmidt after 40 blood bags were reportedly discovered in a garage in Erfurt, Germany. Schmidt was previously a doctor at the Gerolsteiner and Milram cycling teams. He was accused of doping by Bernard Kohl when the Austrian rider was caught in 2008 but was cleared after a trial.
- Preidler admits to blood extraction as doping investigation widens
- Denifl confesses to blood doping in police interview
- UCI hopes to secure information on cyclists involved in blood doping investigation
- Ochowicz: No red flags in Denifl's biological passport
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com