Pro Cycling’s Huge Problem
Charles Johnson
Mon Nov 5, 2007 at 7:06 pm PST • Views: 227
An inside look at the ugly prevalence of high-stakes pharmaceutical cheating in professional cycling, at Der Spiegel Online: Pro-Cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz Revisits Doping Scandal: ‘Your Main Concern Is Not to Get Caught’.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Sinkewitz, how did you find out about the positive results of your doping test?
Sinkewitz: It was around noon on July 18, three days after my accident. I had been given a sedative and was being taken to the operating room in a wheelchair. My phone rang, but I didn’t recognize the number.
SPIEGEL: Who was it?
Sinkewitz: I don’t remember, perhaps a journalist. He asked me to comment on the fact that I had tested positive for testosterone in a random test at a training session on June 8. June 8? Testosterone? I really didn’t understand what he was talking about. I told him that I was about to go into surgery. I remember that I was wondering where I could get more information. But I was under anesthesia 10 minutes later.
SPIEGEL: When you received the call, was it already clear to you that you had been caught?
Sinkewitz: No, I wasn’t fully aware of it until the next morning. The patient in the bed next to me told me that the newspapers were reporting on the test, and it was on television all day long. I stayed in Hamburg a few more days, and during that time I received a visit from Rolf Aldag, the sporting director at T-Mobile. He advised me to tell the truth.
SPIEGEL: And what is it? What exactly happened in the Pyrenees?
Frank says: