Matschiner's book

[roundabout]

Apparently two of the riders abandoned the 2005 Tour simply because they had high hematocrit.

Also it seems it was very easy to smuggle a blood bag during that Tour. All you needed was a suit, a tie and a briefcase and the security would ask you no questions.

Apart from Kohl he also had 2 other clients in the 2005 Vuelta one of the them a "renowned" Italian and apparently a Humanplasma client not named in any of the investigations

There's also a bit about the Turin Olympics, but it's a little OT.

 

[TubularBills]

Seems like everyone is jumping on the 'tell all' bandwagon - fueling the fire.

Makes you wonder how many investigations, confessions, whistleblowers will rip the sport apart in 2011?

Seems like maybe it isn't a 'witch hunt' after all.

Is 'omerta' dead? Glad to see it die, cannon ball coming!

 

[Monte Zoncolon]

http://www.buecher.de/shop/fachbuec...ed/products_products/detail/prod_id/32654672/

 

[Monte Zoncolon]

http://www.buecher.de/shop/fachbuec...ed/products_products/detail/prod_id/32654672/


Doubt that there will be a version in English

 

[pleyser]

the book's description

For what it's worth, here is the book's description in English, using an online translation tool. (hence it's awkward in parts)
________________________________________________________________
Executive Summary: From January 2004 until his arrest in April 2009 the Austrian sports managers Stefan Matschiner for around 50 international athletes organized doping substances to improve performance. His "repertoire" included testosterone, designer steroids, growth hormone, insulin, adrenalin, EPO products of whatsoever and all forms of blood doping. He dominated the latter through the purchase and use highly complex blood centrifuges to perfection. The "spider network", as German media like known Matschiner, was therefore the most important masterminds of the drug scene in on performance.


Openly and honestly describes Matschiner as he gradually hineingeriet in the drug-related crime in his autobiography, and paints a merciless picture of parallel society competitive sport in which the fraud at the other and of self-deception the rule in lies constant companion is.


Never before, a book has granted such a deep insight into the harrowing reality of drug abuse in sports. Description stealth, pretend, drugs - the parallel world competitive sport Stefan Matschiner. For five years, the former athlete was "the spider in the doping network" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), supplying everything athlete's heart desires - and prohibited athletes throughout Europe: EPO, testosterone, growth hormone, designer steroids.


As first Hintermann doping scene Matschiner pushes a public confession in his biography, inaugurates the reader into the secrets of the blood doping, the Lügengebäude of parallel society breaks down elite. He uncovers, denounces and debunks officials, media, society as a confidant and accomplices.


He is accompanied by sports journalist Manfred Behr, which holds Matschiners experiences and beliefs into words and billing against the system performance strike in the big interview scandal coach Walter Mayer.


Never before, a book has granted such a deep insight into the harrowing reality of drug abuse in sports.


A must for sports enthusiasts and insiders. Author portrait for "Stefan Matschiner;" Manfred Behr "the former middle distance runner and sports managers Stefan Matschiner, 34, admitted 2009 many athletes, including the Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl and triathlete Lisa Hat Schwanthaler supplied with banned substances such as EPO and growth hormones to have." He is as a key player in the Austrian doping scandal and was several months in pre-trial detention. The trial took place in autumn 2010 in Vienna. Matschiner was found guilty.


Manfred Behr is sports journalist and since 2006 as Chief Editor downloads the Austrian sport. Since 1998, he writes about doping through case against protagonists of GDR State sports.

 

[roundabout]

Matschiner had clients from 13 countries and 11 sports including football players.

Among things from the interview

- Humanplasma was greenlighted from above to allow Austrian athletes to compete on a level playing field

- some countries had to move theire doping supplies to France after the raids in Turin

- Matschiner's delivery of a blood bag to one of the skiers in Turin was paid for by the Austrian Ski Federation

- Walter Mayer suggests doping in Alpine Skiing

- there are more black sheep in sport than white sheep

- there were less Humanplasma customers than it was speculated in the media

- blood bags weren't linked to names

gotta eat now, more later

 

[roundabout]

-75% of athletes managed by Matschiner didn't dope using his help

- clients from football played in Austria and didn't become better because of doping

- 4 prominent Spanish clients in athletics

- doping is responsible for 3% of performance

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Matschiner had clients from 13 countries and 11 sports including football players.

Among things from the interview

- Humanplasma was greenlighted from above to allow Austrian athletes to compete on a level playing field

- some countries had to move theire doping supplies to France after the raids in Turin

- Matschiner's delivery of a blood bag to one of the skiers in Turin was paid for by the Austrian Ski Federation

- Walter Mayer suggests doping in Alpine Skiing

- there are more black sheep in sport than white sheep

- there were less Humanplasma customers than it was speculated in the media

- blood bags weren't linked to names

gotta eat now, more later

I was reading your break synop of the book and when you got to this "gotta eat now, more later" It read funny for me. Thanks for the insight.

 

[sniper]

Matschiner had clients from 13 countries and 11 sports including football players.

snip

- blood bags weren't linked to names

gotta eat now, more later

This is good stuff. Thanks for the effort.
From what you've posted so far, I get the impression Matschinger's not naming any names of athletes besides the ones we already knew, am I right?

 

[roundabout]

Yes, the book is aimed against the system of doping and not individual athletes

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Damn. I'm curious to just how much detail he fully goes into, and what he has to back some of it up, or who corroborates it in the future.

2011 could be a year of purging. That would be nice.

 

[Tyler'sTwin]

Damn. I'm curious to just how much detail he fully goes into, and what he has to back some of it up, or who corroborates it in the future.

2011 could be a year of purging. That would be nice.

Have you read anything this guy says?

- Doping isn't cheating.
- There's nothing wrong with it.
- Everyone does it.
- It's a level playingfield.
- The same athletes would win if sports were clean.
- The DDR would have won more medals if sports were clean.
- I have done nothing wrong.
- I wont name names.
- Doping is good for your health.
- Fighting doping is futile.

 

[theswordsman]

Thanks a lot to those of you sharing the info. It's great for us to be able to see what's written and decide for ourselves.

I also hope that 2011 will be a big year not just for hearing the stories and getting the details, but for changes to happen. Some European countries seem to be doing good police work in conjunction with each other and Interpol. That's a big step, going after the suppliers and networks.

I think it's big for the UCI to take some hits, in both the media and the courts, before the Dauphine, in time to get the AFLD testing for the Tour. I have no idea what if anything Valjavec, Caucchioli and Pellizotti might have done, but I believe that the sport would be better with them in it that with the Biological Passport used as it is. If all three win in CAS, and it becomes obvious that the Passport can't stand alone as evidence for punishment, things will have to change.

Back closer to topic, the UCI and other powers that be are getting by because the smallish number of positives allow the illusion of a clean sport. When the Lance news comes out again and again, and books like this one and the Holczer one name names or reveal techniques, sooner or later word of the problem will be more widespread.

I'd be content watching the sport if 25 or 50 guys a year got busted for having some banned substance and were punished soon after the positive. But someone like Pellizotti being told in May he's banned because he looked suspicious ten months before, and only had two surprise tests in between, that makes me question the whole anti-doping effort. I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but what Landis said about the UCI trying to pick stars and influence victories looks more real every day.

 

[mad black]

I just finished reading the interview with Matschinger. What roundabout wrote is pretty much the gist of it.

http://sport.orf.at/stories/2036733/2036718/

One more noteworthy detail he talks about is from the 2005 Tour. He claims one rider of undisclosed nationality registered an elevated heamatocrit. The rider was apparently forced to withdraw on the following stage but escaped any punishment. Matschinger hence poses the rhetoric question of whether the Tour needs to be presented cleaner than it actually is. He doesn't say whether it was the UCI or the Tour organizers calling the shot.

Personally I think Matschinger is just cashing in. From what I read his book doesn't contribute in any shape or form to make sport any cleaner. It's describing a reality which for some may come as a shock or surprise thus its appealing to our sensationalist society and tabloid media in particular.

However, Matschinger also notes that doping won't "transform a farm horse into a race horse" which he substantiates with his own experience as a professional runner. If there's anything to be taken from the book it should be that with or without doping there'd be the same people winning. This is exactly what my opinon is as well.

 

[Cloxxki]

If 75% of clients didn't dope through him, how many did anyway, or in some other Matschiner linked way? Can't imagine 75% of his clients clean.
That'd also mean 75% would have huge reasons to be greatly upset, for ruining their name without even improving their performance. That's an expensive lunch, all the allegations, no dope!

 

[Fester]

I just finished reading the interview with Matschinger. What roundabout wrote is pretty much the gist of it.

http://sport.orf.at/stories/2036733/2036718/
If there's anything to be taken from the book it should be that with or without doping there'd be the same people winning. This is exactly what my opinon is as well.

I really disagree with this. You've kind of swallowed the doping excuse there. No doubt a lot of dopers are also naturally excellent riders, but you're over looking the fact there are potentially better talents bringing them water.

 

[Benotti69]

I just finished reading the interview with Matschinger. What roundabout wrote is pretty much the gist of it.

http://sport.orf.at/stories/2036733/2036718/

One more noteworthy detail he talks about is from the 2005 Tour. He claims one rider of undisclosed nationality registered an elevated heamatocrit. The rider was apparently forced to withdraw on the following stage but escaped any punishment. Matschinger hence poses the rhetoric question of whether the Tour needs to be presented cleaner than it actually is. He doesn't say whether it was the UCI or the Tour organizers calling the shot.

Personally I think Matschinger is just cashing in. From what I read his book doesn't contribute in any shape or form to make sport any cleaner. It's describing a reality which for some may come as a shock or surprise thus its appealing to our sensationalist society and tabloid media in particular.

However, Matschinger also notes that doping won't "transform a farm horse into a race horse" which he substantiates with his own experience as a professional runner. If there's anything to be taken from the book it should be that with or without doping there'd be the same people winning. This is exactly what my opinon is as well.

so take a 7 time TdF winner who never won a GT without dope, barely finished any TdFs then dopes and bingo wins 7......nah doping makes winners out of those who should not be on certain podiums.

some horses are good for a days race but can't laast the distance of weeks of racing, where as others perform better over the long haul.

if you have a high Hem level of 47, taking epo up to 50 gives a little. But if you have a Hem level of 40 taking it up to 50 gives loads...

the doping myth is still trying to tell us it levels the field. WRONG.

 

[Mr.38%]

http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/fr/1500/abandons.html

 

[joe_papp]

This could be why the Tour down under has gotten less coverage this year despite having the best sprinters in the world.

The boom years maybe over - the sport could go through a shrinkage in the next few years.

If that's what happens, it's a shame, because now is one of those rare times when it seems apparent that there are fundamental changes afoot in the culture of Olympic sport re. doping, and those changes, if properly spun, could be quite significant for cycling to stabilize its economic position at least as far as the doping wild card is concerned, and stabilize and rationalize the valuations of cycling team sponsorships as marketing/branding/advertising/PR instruments.

The real problem in cycling that may destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of riders and staff at the highest levels is the infighting b/w the UCI, the organizers, and the teams, over some very real issues.

Without resolution to the question of : "What does it take - exactly, in black and white - plus all the details - to found a team and guarantee its entry into the sport's marquee events like the Tour?" NO COMPANY in its right mind would make a GEOX-like investment if they weren't sure they could even ride the Tour, for example, if the Tour was crucial to their strategy. There has to be some predictability and stability to interest corporate dollars, and this has not been a good period for stability or predictability.

Another question they'd need to asnwer:

"What is the effectiveness of the regulatory body (UCI) that should seemingly be involved with race organizers and other stake-holders in ensuring the efficient functioning of the sport in countless potential break-down situations (negotiations w/ major players whose teams thought they were protected by some kind of transfer window that when not open wouldn't allow those under contract to negotiate with the new game in town, for example)? And if they're not very effective, what could be done organizationally to make them more effective?"

lots to do...

 

[Cloxxki]

Anyone can win a lesser competitive race on a good day. Lance beat Ullrich on the flats, Pantanio on the ups, and all the rest over the distance.
Even if all are doping in a given elvel of a given sports discipline, one is benifitting more than the other. Talent to dope would be the main winning factor. You're born with it, or the meds happen to be invented to work well for you. If that's sports for you, you'll find watching a roulette wheel fascination. Even if they numbers will only once in a while change.

Matschiner so far has come across as evil to me. Even if there is some truth in details he offers, it's only to have verifiable facts to make his money off. He may well be still servicing (or taking silence money) from many of his athletes. The 25% figure may be to lessen the "witch hunt" on his precious former pupils. If he'd say only 10% were so stubborn (or poor) to not use any doping services, the hunt would be totally on. Why would authorities (or journalists) disbelieve the man?

3% performance boost from doping only, really? With riders dropping out of the TdF with a 50+% Hc?
I haven't read the book yet, but it sure sounds like telling what has no value, and putting a value on it, for his writing effort. Easy money.

 

[luckyboy]

http://www.letour.fr/2005/TDF/LIVE/fr/1500/abandons.html

So two riders out of Mengin [broken cheekbone], Honchar, Petrov, Boonen [knee] and Lowik (all the DNSs). Of course, Frigo got arrested at some point in that year's Tour too.

That is, assuming the rider didn't start the stage for some reason and then remember about his crit and abandon.

Aha, from the CN Archive - "After a early Tuesday morning test of 33 riders from Lampre-Caffita, AG2R, CSC and Discovery Channel, one rider was found unfit to work and didn't start today: 2003 double world U23 champ Evgeni Petrov (Lampre-Caffita)."

 

[Mr.38%]

Right. And some other guy abondoned that (mythical!) stage, a guy who received "training plans" from Matschiner.

 

[luckyboy]

Ah yeah.

Well that was fun while it lasted.

 

[Benotti69]

unless the book has evidence to back his facts he comes across as just another dodgy agent/manager....the sports is full of these 'blood and money leeches'

 

[L'arriviste]

Aha, from the CN Archive - "After a early Tuesday morning test of 33 riders from Lampre-Caffita, AG2R, CSC and Discovery Channel, one rider was found unfit to work and didn't start today: 2003 double world U23 champ Evgeni Petrov (Lampre-Caffita)."

More specifically, CN's confirmation of Petrov's high haemactocrit (scroll down).

An individual intent on making the most of his infamy before he fades into obscurity. Or at least until he pops up again in about four years' time as part of a new and exciting doping scandal.