joe_papp said:
If they were for Pitel, then he could say so and kinda save Longo.
If they were for Longo (which is what he indicated initially, though w/o naming her directly), then he could clear the name of Pitel.
If they were for his own use, then he could clear both of them.
If they were for them both - well, that's a bit more difficult (yet given that he took receipt of 120,000iu of EPO, it is plausible that both riders benefited).
Joe is being kind. If Longo didn't dope through her career, then she would not have, as a long term partner, a person who would condone doping and risk implicating Longo by doing Pitel a favour and supplying her. "You want some what - EPO, Yes, well I've no idea where that comes from but give me a few days and I'll sort some out for you! Jeannie do you want some while I'm at it ?" He would have said "get-lost" to Pitel. If Longo did dope and Ciprelli purchased, then Pitel may well have been ignorant. After all, her relationship with Ciprelli was short, long enough for an athlete to give the relationship a worthwhile go and then come to the conclusion that he was doing nothing for her/find out something she did not like, and leave. So Pitel may well be innocent but Longo cannot be. This then is another example in the stupidity of dopers. As soon as Joe started singing, Longo should have hung up her wheels. If she was retired she might have not been pursued. Certainly, it appears that the testers were pursuing her and she was dull/arrogant enough to think she could get away with her past indiscretions.
I was going to post earlier, but it would be mean spirited, seeing as how at first it was only missed tests and no positive result. Now, that it is obvious that she, like so many others has stolen medals and livelihood from the deserving, she warrants no sympathy.
A good few years ago I was in conversation with a female elite rider, who I admire greatly, who had ridden against her many times. From nowhere, she stated that there was rumour that when Longo took time off for racing and the stated reason was that "she was trying for a baby", the alternate was she had actually tested positive and the ban was entirely informal, based on protecting her cult status. "You don't race for a year and we will not tell a soul you tested positive. Race, and we go public!" The person telling me, was fair enough to state it was a rumour, but did state that often, Longo would turn up on the line with sticking plasters on arms and legs where needles would go.
Entirely separately, a few years ago I listened to the genuine complaint of an elite French rider. She was bemoaning the fact that the French Federation put so little into women's racing. That was bad in itself. What compounded it was that the first and major cut from the meagre available funding always went to Longo and Ciprelli. They were in clover whilst the rest had nothing. Then the French Fed wondered why female talent dropped out of cycling so quickly.
Sadly the French cycling press are as chauvinistic as that in the UK and so there was no outlet for any news story about any developing riders or unfairnesses. Women's cycling started and finished with Longo and that was that.
It is rather sad to think that the "road block" maybe was not based on some supreme athletic talent.