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CYCLING

Telekom cycling soigneur to detail Ullrich’s doping

Former Team Telekom soigneur, Belgian Jef d'Hont, is set to release a second book in November which will include further details on the doping practises of Jan Ullrich.

“I do not understand: why he (Ullrich) didn’t confess how it really was, like the others did in the Telekom team? Everyone doped,” Hont told German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. “In my next book, there will be a lot of information on Ullrich.”

In d’Hont’s first book – “Memories of a Soigneur” – which was published last spring, the Belgian revealed the Telekom team – which dominated the Tour de France in 1996 and 1997 – had extensively used banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO).

Former Telekom riders Bjarne Riis, in 1996, and Ullrich, 1997, won the Tour de France, but while Riis admitted using EPO during the period, the German has kept silent.

“Before the publication of my first book, Ullrich’s adviser Rudy Pevenage begged me not to say anything, because they wanted to say what happened in their own time. “I held my promise, they didn’t.”

After the publication of his first book, a string of former Telekom cyclists including Riis and Erik Zabel admitted to using EPO, but Ullrich has stayed silent on the matter since retiring in February 2007.

CYCLING

Swiss rider dies after fall into ravine on Tour of Switzerland

Swiss rider Gino Maeder has died from the injuries he sustained when he plunged into a ravine during a stage of the Tour of Switzerland, his team Bahrain-Victorious said on Friday.

Swiss rider dies after fall into ravine on Tour of Switzerland

Maeder, 26, fell during a high-speed descent on the fifth stage between Fiesch and La Punt on Thursday, after an exhausting day marked by three ascents over 2,000 metres altitude.

He had been found “lifeless in the water” of a ravine below the road, “immediately resuscitated then transported to the hospital in Chur by air”, organisers said.

But the next day, “Gino lost his battle to recover from the serious injuries he sustained,” Bahrain-Victorious said in a statement.

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we must announce the passing of Gino Mäder,” his team wrote in a statement.

“On Friday June 16th, following a very serious fall during the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse, Gino lost his fight to recover from the serious injuries he had suffered. Our entire team is devastated by this tragic accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with Gino’s family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.”

“Despite the best efforts of the phenomenal staff at Chur hospital, Gino couldn’t make it through this, his final and biggest challenge, and at 11:30am we said goodbye to one of the shining lights of our team,” the team said in a statement.

Maeder had enjoyed a strong start to the season, finishing fifth in the Paris-Nice race.

American rider Magnus Sheffield also fell on the same descent from Albula, during the most difficult stage of the race with multiple climbs. The Ineos-Grenadiers rider was hospitalised with “bruises and concussion,” organisers said.

On Thursday, world champion Remco Evenepoel criticised the decision to compete on such a dangerous road.

“While a summit finish would have been perfectly possible, it wasn’t a good decision to let us finish down this dangerous descent,” the Belgian wrote on Twitter.

“As riders, we should also think about the risks we take going down a mountain.”

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