January 25, 2007 – Patrick Lefevere, the director of Quick Step-Innergetic, was accused this week of “30 years of doping,” in the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of the Flemish Belgian daily, Het Laatste Nieuws (The Latest News). The stories quote a number of sources, most of which are anonymous, but this coincides with a press conference held on Tuesday in which his former star cyclist, Johan Museeuw, admitted to doping.

Het Laatste Nieuws claims that team cyclists are using not only “EPO, but also recreational drugs like cocaine, speed and ecstasy.” Lefevere and the team doctor, Yvan Van Mol, were reportedly in the know about this practice. A report in Le Monde on Wednesday has Lefevere himself admitting to amphetamine use while he was a professional cyclist.

Lefevere is now hitting back with statements and legal action. “We’ve returned to the time of cowboys. Back then, notices with a photo with the inscription: ‘wanted dead or alive’ would be tacked up on trees,” Lefevere was quoted on the Belgian website, Sport.Be. Since then, Lefevere has reportedly filed a 50 million euros ($76 million CDN) against Het Laatste Nieuws.

Before taking his current position at Quick Step, Lefevere directed the very successful Mapei team in the 1990s and started the Domo-Farm Frites team. Some sources call him “the mentor of Belgian cycling,” in a country that is crazy about bicycling. Lefevere has also a reputation of harshly criticizing those suspected of doping.