Roglic and Nibali left to face questions over Milan Erzen and his links to Operation Aderlass
Bahrain-Merida's Managing Director Milan Eržen has kept a low profile since it was confirmed that the UCI are investigating his involvement in a Slovenian connection to the Operation Aderlass blood doping ring. Eržen has not attended the Giro d'Italia, leaving his team leader Vincenzo Nibali and his former rider Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) to face the questions about the case on the second rest day of the Giro d'Italia.
Eržen is considered the Dominus of Slovenian cycling after years as a rider, talent scout, coach, altitude training expert, rider agent and manager. He has helped many of the 32 Slovenian riders in the professional peloton, including Roglic, who raced for Eržen’s Adria Mobil Continental team between 2013 and 2015, before moving to what is now Jumbo-Visma.
Eržen has found places for Slovenian riders on the Bahrain-Merida roster, plus head sports director and former rider Goradz Stangelj, sports director and former rider Borut Bozic, team doctor Marjan Korsic, and other staff.
The UCI suspended Bozic and current Bahrain-Merida rider Kristijan Koren – sending him home from the Giro d'Italia, plus UAE Team Emirates rider Kristijan Durasek and Alessandro Petacchi, for their links to Operation Aderlass after details of a Europol police investigation into the activities of Dr. Mark Schmidt, his clients and associates were published by Corriere della Sera and Le Monde.
Eržen, who has yet to receive any formal notification from the UCI, has denied any wrongdoing, telling Cyclingnews through the Bahrain-Merida team: "All and any implications regarding my involvement in Aderlass are absolutely false and unfounded."
Team co-owners McLaren have thus far declined to comment publicly on the UCI's scrutiny of Eržen but the head of McLaren Cycling, John Allert, visited the Giro d'Italia at the weekend and spent time with the riders and staff, reassuring them about the future of the team.
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