Iban Mayo & Frank Schleck questions

[Kerbdog]

Just a couple of things that ive been wondering about lately. Anyway to start off has anyone heard anything about Iban Mayo lately? His ban ended last July if im not mistaken?? Has he been looking for teams or having a sniff anywhere etc?
Also regarding the Frank Schleck payment to Dr.Fuentes. I believe it was almost 7000 Euro right? What can you expect to get for that if that was all he paid him? 7000 Euro seems a little small to me as I thought (and im open to further education here) that Blood doping cost a heck of a lot more than that. Were all of CSC visiting Fuentes & do we have full proof? I know the reason Frank Schleck gave regarding the payment was that it was for training purposes & information. We know that this Fuentes guy was a sports Doctor so is it possible that the figure of 7000 Euro would cover something like standard training advice for a sports professional? Im not naive but it seems that only one payment was made, if he was Blood doping & using additional "facilities" then surely they would have found more than one payment? Im not saying that Frank did or didnt dope or use Fuentes for that, im just interested in seeing what 7000 Euro could get you from a Doctor like that exactly.
Anyway lets discuss & thanks for all info in advance.

 

[Bernardus]

We know that this Fuentes guy was a sports Doctor

Wasn't he a gynecologist?

 

[JPM London]

Wasn't he a gynecologist?

And Frank Schleck just became a father

 

[issoisso]

Mayo doesn't want to return.

 

[ike2112]

Indeed Fuentes was a gynecologist, who should not have had half of the substances that he did have in his lab, hence a legal reason for a police raid.

Schleck claimed the payment was made in return for nutritional guidance and information. He also claimed to not know Fuentes all that well.

So we are forced to believe that a pro sportsman agreed to pay a virtual stranger who is qualified in female reproductive organs to tell him what to eat.

Indeed 7000 euros is a small one-off payment. But you don't pay huge one-off sums, you pay regular amounts. The most logical suppositions I've read are that he had not long started down the path. Basso was the connection to Schleck, and he'd been doing it longer. Scarponi was same, although he just held his hands up and took a ban.
If it was team-related it wouldn't have been a foreign doctor with his own doping business, it would have been facilitated much easier. It seems there was just a rider passing on details to a teammate (perhaps more than one of course, we'll probably never know). But I seriously doubt that the team itself was part of it, because it wasn't organised in a structured way as a team would.
In any case these days some of team's riders barely see others in the team - with some of them being able to put out 3 teams at once rider A might only meet teammate B at the preseason and season-end training camps!

 

[Mongol_Waaijer]

" Schleck claimed the payment was made in return for nutritional guidance and information. He also claimed to not know Fuentes all that well.

So we are forced to believe that a pro sportsman agreed to pay a virtual stranger who is qualified in female reproductive organs to tell him what to eat."

I thought it was 7,000 euros for " interval training"? From a gyneacologist.

 

[issoisso]

Indeed Fuentes was a gynecologist, who should not have had half of the substances that he did have in his lab, hence a legal reason for a police raid.

Schleck claimed the payment was made in return for nutritional guidance and information. He also claimed to not know Fuentes all that well.

So we are forced to believe that a pro sportsman agreed to pay a virtual stranger who is qualified in female reproductive organs to tell him what to eat.

Indeed 7000 euros is a small one-off payment. But you don't pay huge one-off sums, you pay regular amounts. The most logical suppositions I've read are that he had not long started down the path. Basso was the connection to Schleck, and he'd been doing it longer. Scarponi was same, although he just held his hands up and took a ban.
If it was team-related it wouldn't have been a foreign doctor with his own doping business, it would have been facilitated much easier. It seems there was just a rider passing on details to a teammate (perhaps more than one of course, we'll probably never know). But I seriously doubt that the team itself was part of it, because it wasn't organised in a structured way as a team would.
In any case these days some of team's riders barely see others in the team - with some of them being able to put out 3 teams at once rider A might only meet teammate B at the preseason and season-end training camps!

It's been confirmed that on the previous day to the date of a payment, Riis travelled to Spain with Frank by aeroplane

 

[JPM London]

It's been confirmed that on the previous day to the date of a payment, Riis travelled to Spain with Frank by aeroplane

I heard some rumour about that... Do you have a link for the information or remember where it came from?

 

[issoisso]

I heard some rumour about that... Do you have a link for the information or remember where it came from?

It was all over the usual cycling sites at the time, so it shouldn't be too hard to find

 

[craig1985]

Was that before or after Frank won Amstel Gold?

 

[issoisso]

Was that before or after Frank won Amstel Gold?

Before, obviously.

Late 2005. Around the time Frank very very suddenly made a gargantuan leap from mid-pack fodder to top classics contender in the late season italian classics.

 

[craig1985]

Mayo was more then happy to ride for my team in Pro Cycling Manager. Then at the Giro, my sprinters were out climbing him FFS.

 

[luckyboy]

Haha I always liked Mayo. Would've been nice if he had come back.