Der Spiegel examines Ullrich, T-Mobile doping allegations

Spiegel Online | Tour de France: Inside the Blood Doping Investigation

Germany's Der Spiegel takes a look at Operactión Puerto and especially the role of 2 German riders, Jan Ullrich and Jörg Jaksche, and one German team, T-Mobile, in the case.

The story provides some more mobile phone intercepts, showing how those involved avoided naming clients, and how investigators slowly pieced together identities. Rudy Pevenage, Ullrich's trainer, reportedly called Fuentes on May 18th, pleased that “a third person won today.” That was the day Ullrich won the Giro time trial.

Two days later, Pevenage called again, saying he had “spoken with a third person on the bus,” and that they wanted “more, even if it's only half.”

It also examines how T-Mobile's default response has changed over the years, from categorical denials when Spiegel did a story on performance-enhancing drugs in 1999 to forcing riders to sever ties with Michele Ferrari last week, when it turned out that Michael Rogers, Patrik Sinkewitz, and Eddy Mazzoleni were stilll working with the controversial Italian sports doctor.