From today's la Gazzetta dello Sport:
Medic Ibarguren investigated in Mantua case: From Piepoli and Riccò to Omega Pharma
There aren't only directors' names, racers and staff in the Mantova doping investigation. At the end of March case director Antonio Condorelli ended his investigation on the Mantova pharmacy, Mariana Mantovana, managed by Guido Nigrelli, which, according to the investigators, was an international doping center that has sent 31 people to court, many of whom connected with Lampre. The first hearing will be held on July 13. Among them is a very important Spanish medic José Ibarguren Taus. He's a person of great relevance, because for three years Ibarguren was part of the medical staff of Omega Pharma. In 2011 this was the team of Philippe Gilbert, 18 victories; this year that team was fused with Lefevre's Quick Step and, if Gilbert has flown to the American BMC squad, Omega has become the sponsor of Tom Boonen.
The name of Ibarguren, a Basque from Eibar who lives at Alicante, appears on page 3 of the court mandate. A few pages after states the reasoning of the attorney general: "Nigrelli and Ibarguren, as per art. 110 of the penal code (involvement in a criminal act) and law 9, 376/2000 (anti-doping penal law), [are incriminated] for having between them procured, administered or in any case favored the use of substances (among those classified in art. 2 of law 376) not justified by any pathological condition, toward the ends of altering the performances of athletes on the Fuji-Servetto professional cycling team, or otherwise to modify the anti-doping controls by the use of such pharmaceuticals and, among these, substances containing testosterone: in Mariana Mantovan and elsewhere, up to the end of 30 April 2009."
Ibargure was at Lampre between 2002-2004 (in the team the Rumsas case exploded), then Euskaltel 2005 (Landaluze positive for testosterone, but absolved for a procedural error) an then the team of Gianetti: Saunier Duval between 2007-2008 (Mayo positive for EPO, Piepoli and Riccò for Cera), and Fuji in 2009. Now, this year, we can also refer to the telephone taps by the NAS Carabinieri of Brescia, which appears in the investigation folder on p. 69.
On 15 April, 2009 Ibarguren was described thusly by NAS: "He's the medic of the Fuji-Servetto, he knows Nigrelli from his time at Lampre. He makes use of prohibited substances and, by his same admission, he hides in his own domicile because of problems with Gianetti."
Ibarguren: "Now I'm going to send you a fax. However, you send the stuff to me at my home!"
Nigrelli: "Ok, afterward give me the address."
Ibarguren: "With a copy of the reciept for the transport and later send the recipet to the usual one, that guy!"
Nigrelli: "To the usual one then! Write me, José, whatever you want..."
Ibarguren: "There's a little something I want! Nothing big, because Gianetti doesn't want it...what you sent me for the Vuelta I had kept at home."
What surprised the carabinieri is quite obviously this: why would a medic at Alicante, a Spanish town south of Barcellona, turn to a pharmacist at Mariana Mantovana 1600 km away? That is for the judge to determine.