I've been watching this for the last 2 days and am getting very good at reading news stories.
If I may point out, this story today has been exploded from 1 small piece in the paper L'equipe printed last night before midnight French time. I post it here with the lousy google automatic translation
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Millar dans la tourmente
Selon le quotidien l'Equipe daté du 25 juin, David Millar, le coureur écossais de l'équipe Cofidis aurait avoué avoir consommé de l'EPO, lors de sa garde à vue de 48 heures au commissariat de Biarritz dans le cadre d'une enquête sur un trafic de produits dopants.
«Millar aurait reconnu avoir utilisé de l'Eprex (erythropoïetine) dans l'exercice de sa profession ce qui le place aujourd'hui réglementairement dans la même situation qu'un coureur contrôlé positif au regard de l'Union cycliste internationale», écrit le journal.
Des ampoules d'EPO vides auraient également été découvertes par les policiers au domicile de David Millar lors de la perquisition effectuée peu de temps avant l'interrogatoire du coureur.
David Millar devrait donc être convoqué par le juge Richard Pallain au tribunal de Nanterre pour être mis en examen, ajoute le quotidien. Le champion a été entendu par les enquêteurs de la brigade des stupéfiants jusqu'à jeudi midi.
Le coureur écossais est soupçonné d'avoir utilisé des produits dopants et d'avoir participé à un trafic de produits dopants autour de l'équipe Cofidis. Il avait été mis en cause par le coureur Philippe Gaumont, un de ses anciens coéquipiers chez Cofidis.
Huit personnes ont été mises en examen dans cette affaire : les coureurs Cédric Vasseur, Philippe Gaumont, Robert Sassone, Médéric Clain, Marek Rutkiewicz et Daniel Majewski, un soigneur, Boguslaw Madejak, et le directeur sportif d'une formation de 3e division, Oleg Kozlitine.
Millar in the storm
According to the daily newspaper the Team dated from June 25, David Millar, the Scottish runner of the Cofidis team would have acknowledged to have consumed EPO, during her police custody 48 hours to the police station of Biarritz within the framework of an investigation on a traffic of doping products.
" Millar would have admitted having used of Eprex (erythropoïetine) in the exercise of its profession what places it today in the regular manner in the same situation as a positive controlled runner in comparison with the international Union cyclist ", the newspaper writes.
Bulbs of empty EPO also would have been discovered by the police officers in the residence of David Millar at the time of the searching carried out little time before the interrogation of the runner.
David Millar should thus be convened by judge Richard Pallain with the court of Nanterre to be put in examination, adds the daily newspaper. The champion was heard by the investigators of the drug squad until Thursday midday.
The Scottish runner is suspected of having used doping products and to have taken part in a traffic of doping products around the Cofidis team. It had been blamed by the runner Philippe Gaumont, one of his former fellow-members at Cofidis.
Eight people were put in examination in this business: the runners Cédric Vasseur, Philippe Gaumont, Robert Sassone, Médéric Clain, Marek Rutkiewicz and Daniel Majewski, a welfare man, Boguslaw Madejak, and the sporting director of a formation of the 3rd division, Oleg Kozlitine.
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There has been no official confirmation just an anonymous informant.
All the articles since, wherever they are from stem from this one little piece of 'news' It has been added to, embellished and totally turned round quoting everything as the gospel truth.
This I find offensive.
There is one glimmer of hope, someone has stood back and taken an overview of the shark feeding frenzy, and I post it now from the Daily Peleton
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Tour Shakedown: When Rumors Shape Races
By Janna Trevisanut
Date: 06/25/04
The Tour of France director, Jean Marie LeBlanc, has apparently announced today that he won't accept riders implicated in judicial procedures regarding dopage or who are part of a police doping investigation. This position has apparently been approved by the UCI.
Two French publications, LeMonde, and the sports publication L'Equipe, have published various stories since the beginning of the year regarding French and Italian dopage investigations that have implicated various riders or who are included as part of doping investigations. L'Equipe also published the LeBlanc announcement today.
Such a stance by LeBlanc is certainly understandable, but the difficulty lies in the fact that at least some of the allegations published by these media organs may be part of confidential judicial investigations that improperly appeared in print. Cofidis and Saeco have both complained that they have not been officially notified of their implicated riders, learning of it instead in the press, and earlier this year Cofidis was barred by the investigating French judge from being made an official party to the investigations of its riders and former riders.
Since no binding legal decisions have yet been made as part of either of these investigations, such as convictions or national cycling federation suspensions, LeBlanc is in the quite interesting position of perhaps excluding riders based on rumor.
For the various Tour teams, such a decision has impact:
Cofidis:
According to the French publication L'Equipe, Time Trial World champion David Millar was detained for 48 hours by the French police earlier this week in relation to an ongoing investigation regarding former Cofidis rider Philippe Gaumont. L'Equipe also reported that Cedric Vasseur has also been interviewed as part of the Gaumont allegations. Interestingly, Vasseur's father and Jean Marie LeBlanc, Tour de France director, are old friends, going back to their racing days.
Saeco:
Eddy Mazzoleni has been precautionarily suspended by the Saeco team after media leaks of a supposed investigation against him which appeared in the French publication LeMonde last week. Other Saeco riders supposedly implicated in a large Italian investigation are Danilo Di Luca and Alessandro Spezialetti.
Police raids by the Italian NAS (Nuclei Anti-Sofisticazione, anti-drug branch of the Carabinieri) were conducted during the second Giro rest day in May. At the time of the searches, the officials in charge of the searches announced that nothing significant and nothing compromising had been found.
Fassa Bortolo:
Fabio Sacchi is implicated in the Italian investigation.
Domina Vacanze:
LeMonde also reported that Mario Scirea and Alessio Galletti are part of the Italian doping investigation.
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I think we need to sit back and wait for the outcome without being overly prejudicial until the facts are out in the public domain