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Phonak benches Gutiérrez and Botero
Fuentes questions need "further investigation," says team.
Phonak riders Santiago Botero and Giro d’Italia runner-up José Enrique Gutiérrez will not race again until their relationships with Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes are clarified, team officials announced Friday.
Both riders have been linked by the Spanish media to Fuentes, who was among five people detained last month as part of an alleged blood doping ring.
Phonak team officials said Friday that neither racer will compete until “examinations bring more clarity to the picture.”
“Botero and Gutiérrez are neither dismissed nor suspended. In the interests of the team and to ensure calm for all team members for the coming races, we have decided to take this step,” Phonak team manager John Lelangue said on the team’s web page. “If further investigations show that the riders have used methods that are not permitted, they will, of course, be dismissed immediately.”
Botero was allegedly videotaped entering the Madrid clinic of José Luis Merino Batres, a Spanish hematologist who was also detained by Spanish authorities as part of three-month doping investigation dubbed “Operación Puerto.”
Fuentes, meanwhile, was allegedly heard making a reference to Gutiérrez, whose nickname is the Buffalo, in phone taps saying, “The Buffalo needs some food.”
Earlier this week, Phonak said it would conduct an internal review over the allegations. On Friday, the team said it wanted more time, but decided to pull the pair out of competition as to not distract other team members ahead of upcoming races.
Botero was penciled in for Sunday’s start of the Dauphiné Libéré, where he finished second overall last year.
"The Phonak Cycling Team has acted in direct response to the connections made in the Spanish media between certain Phonak riders and Dr. Fuentes," read a press release on the team’s page. “Team Management takes the published reports seriously, although the truth of the matter cannot be verified at the present time.”
Fuentes worked as team doctor at the former Kelme team (now Comunidad Valenciana) when both Botero and Gutiérrez rode for the team. Fuentes was released last week on six-figure bail after being charged with endangering public health.
The Spanish magazine Intervíu and other media outlets have printed names of riders allegedly linked to Fuentes.
T-Mobile is requiring its riders to sign an affadavit that they have no connection to the controversial Spanish doctor. Oscar Sevilla was another rider linked to Fuentes, but T-Mobile said it has “nothing to worry about” and Sevilla is expected to start the Dauphiné on Sunday in Annecy.
