April 6, 2009 – We found the following historical piece on doping on the pro cycling team Saxo Bank web site forum and while it’s primarily related to cycling and we cannot verify the accuracy of the information, the research looks thorough and there is a Nordic connection. In particular those that remember the epic team relay battle between Norway and Italy at the1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway will find the information very interesting.

For the complete blog article click here

Conconi and Ferrara case (1993-1998):

Conconi and the Italian Ferrara institute received 2mio euro from IOC to develop an EPO test. But this was a total waste of time and money, since no test was ever developed, and as a matter of fact the money was instead used to finance EPO doping of riders. Conconi started to dope cycling riders with EPO in 1993, where he selected 22 athletes to take part of a so called “EPO research project” paid by IOC. The 22 athletes recieved frequently EPO in 1993, and consisted of 15 riders: Allocchio, Barsotelli, Bontempi, Bugno, Chiappucci, Chiesa, Fondriest, Ghirotto, Perini, Stephen Roche, Roscioli, Rossi, Rolf Sørensen, Vanzella, Zen, 5 skiers: Albarello, De Zolt, Di Centa, Fauner, Vanzetta, and 2 runners: DaMilano, Scaunich. Italian long distance skiers was doped with hugh success in 1992+1994 (Italy gained 34 OL medals).

Investigation report about Conconi (where 21 riders and 7 doctors confessed the doping practise), was filed by Donati in feb.1994, directly to CONIs president, but the report mysteriously disappeared. In Oct.1996 an Italian journalist made the conclusions from the report known to public, and this was the first time the public became aware of a big doping scandal in Cycling. Within few days the disappeared report suddenly reappeared again, but only in Oct.1998 the police made a raid on Ferrara. The Ferrara institute did in 1981-1998 blood analysis on 421 athletes, and received 3mio Euro in financial support from CONI. Despite of the legal case against Conconi, he was in 2000 still employed by both UCI, CONI, and IOC.

In 2001 Conconi was still president of the UCI medical commission, with the responsibility to protect the riders health in Cycling!!! The Ferrara court case ended in 2003 with no legal penalties, due to the case turning to old, and the lack of an explicit doping law in Italy. Nevertheless the Italian court concluded, that systematic EPO doping was going on for all riders at the teams Carrera and Gewiss Ballan from 1993-1995. Furthermore the court concluded that Dr.Conconi, Dr.Grazzi, Dr.Casoni and Dr.Ferrari was moral guilty of doping 66 riders, 14 skiers and 2 runners in 1993-1998. The names of implicated riders and athletes was revealed to the public in 1999, where a Gewiss Ballan soigneur further confirmed, that EPO indeed had been administered from Ferrari and Casoni.

Dr.Ferrari was working at the Ferrara institute and operating as team doctor for Gewiss Ballan in 1994. But in 1995 he left that job, and started up his own private practice, where he continued to “prepare” many famous riders. There was a separate legal case against Ferrari, since there was found more recent evidence against him in the police raid. He was convicted guilty in Oct. 2004 of “sporting fraud” and “doping prescription”, and received life ban from FCI. In the “Ferrari network”, there was also 15 other persons accused (pharmacists, physicians and team staff from Refin and Riso Scotti), while all riders got “amnesty”. In example, both Giro-winner Tonkov(1996) and Gotti(1997) was proved guilty of unnatural Hematocrite fluctuations when they won, but they was never condemned. Fillippo Simeoni testified that team director Davide Boifava, was full aware of the doping practice on Carrera in 1996. Riders in the special Ferrari case, all had training tables with a secret *, symbolizing an EPO injection. Armstrong was a client of Ferrari in 1995-2004, but was not among the implicated riders in this giant legal case.

66 riders (93-98): Allocchio, Artunghi, Barsotelli, Bernhard, Bertolini, Berzin, Bobrik, Bontempi, Bortolami, Bottaro, Brignoli, Bugno, Cavallini, Cenghialta, Checchin, Chiappucci, Chiesa, Chiurato, Cipollini, Cobalchini, Convalle, De las Cuevas, Della-Bianca, Dufaux, Escartin, Faresin, Fondriest, Frattini, Furlan, Ghirotto, Gotti, Kappes, Livingston, E.Mazzoleni (96-98), A.Merckx, Miceli, Minali, Molinari, Mentheour, Moser (83-85), Olano, Pantani, Perini, Pontoni, Pulnikov, Riis, S.Roche, Rominger, Roscioli, Rossi, Santaromita, Savoldelli, Schiavina, Siboni, F.Simeoni(97), R.Sørensen, Tonkov, Ugrumov, Vandenbroucke, Vanzella, Volpi, Zaina, Zanette, B.Zberg, Zen, Zülle.

14 skiers (85-98): Albarello, Barco, Chiaffoi, Clos, Confortola, De Zolt, Di Centa, Fauner, Giulio, Polvara, Pulie, Vanzetta, Venturini, Walder.

2 runners (93-95): DaMilano, Scaunich.