July 1, 2007 (Hamburg, Germany) — A version of the confession by suspected doper, Joerg Jaksche (Tinkoff), is available now on line at Der Spiegel reports Reuters and CP. The German was one of nine cyclists excluded from the 2006 Tour de France because of his links with the Spanish Puerto Affair, but until now Jaksche has maintained his innocence.

Jaksche, 30, now admits to doping almost continuously since 1997 while riding for many different teams, including Polti (1997-1998), Team Telekom (1998-2000), ONCE (2001-2003), CSC (2004), Liberty Seguros-Würth/Astana (2005-2006) and Tinkoff Credit Systems in 2007. He admits to being the patient code named “Bella Jorg” by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes who is at the centre of the Puerto Affair. Jaksche described the blood doping process””where cyclists give blood and then take back some of their altered blood as being, “like an oil change.”

Jaksche puts much of the blame for the current situation on sporting directors and team managers whom he claims are aware of what’s going on. Among those named is Walter Godefroot, formerly of Telekom. While the names of other cyclists are absent from Jaksche’s revelations, he does express surprise at how some suspected dopers have been named by other sources while others have not, suggesting that authorities and media seem to have made a selection.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) made what might be a pre-emptive strike against charges that he is doping. The Kazakh cyclist is on the defensive since team mate Matthias Kessler tested positive for testosterone in April and Eddy Mazzoleni was suspended reports L’Equipe.

Previous reports suggest that Vinokourov is being targeted by the UCI as a suspected doper. Vinokourov minimized the importance of Jaksche’s revelations, pointing out that the German cyclist is getting a lot of money from Der Spiegel and “you can always find something interesting to say when you’re getting a lot of cash to say it.”

Vinokourov admits to regularly consulting with Dr Michele Ferrari, a cycling coach and advocate of EPO. He denies that Ferrari proposed medications for him and speaks highly of the doctor’s training regimes, hinting that they make him nostalgic for athletic programs under the former Soviet Union. Vinokourov also justified his consulting the Italian doctor because Lance Armstrong did, too. “Why should I deprive myself of this experience?”