By SPIEGEL Staff
Former cycling professional Jan Ullrich during a news conference in 2007.
Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has found out that former cycling champion Jan Ullrich made 24 trips to Madrid to use the doping services of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Between February 2005 and May 2006, Ullrich made eight secret trips to Madrid. The flights were organized by Rudy Pevenage, an Ullrich confidante who used to be his adviser at Team T-Mobile, his former sponsor. Pevenage himself flew to Madrid 15 times for short stays between December 2003 and April 2006 to meet the Spanish doping network, according to the investigators.
BKA experts found evidence of the trips on a computer they confiscated in a raid on Pevenage's home. Technicians reconstructed data that had been deleted from the computer's hard drive, according to files held by the Bonn public prosecutor's office. Authorities had investigated Ullrich since July 2006 for alleged fraud and closed the case in March 2008 after Ullrich paid a €250,000 fine ($373,000).
"In conclusion it can be stated that the accused, Ullrich, used the doping system of the Spanish doctor Fuentes to prepare himself for his competitions with performance-enhancing substances and methods in breach of contract," the prosecutor's files state.
Regular Meetings Between Ullrich and Fuentes
Ullrich did not make a statement to prosecutors about the accusations. Pevenage told police that Ullrich and Fuentes had met "around five or six times a year" between 2004 and 2006, but that he had "no knowledge" of any blood treatments taking place.
Pevenage said Ullrich had asked him to set up meetings with Fuentes because of his "overweight problems." Investigators who checked Ullrich's financial accounts found that he had paid Fuentes a total of €80,000 in two payments.
The BKA officers also calculated how much Ullrich earned in the period when he was using Fuente's services. Between January 1, 2003 until June 30, 2006 -- the day he was suspended by T-Mobile -- Ullrich received the sum of €8.505 million in his accounts with Credit Suisse in Kreuzlingen and Bankhaus Lampe in Düsseldorf in "income from cycling and advertising contracts," according to the prosecutor's files.
In addition, Ullrich received severance pay totalling €250,000 from T-Mobile after his suspension. All parties involved agreed to remain silent about that payment. Ullrich's adviser Pevenage, who introduced the cyclist to Fuentes, received €125,000 per year from Ullrich for his services.
Belgian tax authorities found Pevenage received this money on a net basis in 2005 and 2006. His stock market portfolio worth €1 million has been frozen, and he has had to pay €130,000 in back tax, the files show.
The investigation into Ullrich was a mammoth project. At times some 20 officers worked on it. The heroic story of a cycling miracle had turned into a crime story. And sometimes it is astonishing how brazenly Ullrich and his entourage misled the public.
Fallen Hero
Whenever Ullrich made public statements about the doping allegations he portrayed himself as the victim of a conspiracy.
When he announced his retirement from professional cycling in February 2007 in Hamburg's Intercontinental Hotel, he accused police and journalists of being sloppy in their investigations against him.
Then, in an interview with mass-circulation Bild, he gave the following answer to the question whether he had ever doped: "Never! Categorically! I always tried to be fair in my career and I'm proud to say that I never cheated on or damaged anyone"
That's the way he sees it. That is Ullrich's truth. To this day.
Jan Ullrich was a German hero. But he missed his opportunity a long time ago to tell the truth. He now lives in a prison of his own making. He has to hope that things will settle down, that the past won't be raked up again. So far his wish has come true.
But there are still people who are fighting for the truth. Doping expert Werner Franke, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Heidelberg, is contesting a ruling by the Hamburg district court that forbids him to claim that Ullrich paid Fuentes €35,000. But Ullrich's sworn testimony denying that payment has long since been refuted by the BKA investigation.
The judges still don't see themselves in a position to expose Ullrich as a liar and rule in favor of Franke. So far Franke has paid more than €50,000 in legal costs. But he won't give up -- the civil suit is continuing. A few days ago the professor again filed a suit accusing Ullrich of committing deceit during legal proceedings into his case.
Reporting by Udo Ludwig, Gerhard Pfeil, Michael Wulzinger
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