Photographs of Primoz Roglic and Tom Dumoulin were included in a portfolio of photos put together by investigators working on the Operation Aderlass blood doping probe on the basis of speculative remarks by Georg Preidler.
Up to 40 photographs of people were compiled in a portfolio of images in the initial stages of the inquiry and were shown to those questioned or spoken to by investigators.
Preidler’s remarks about Dumoulin and
Roglic were described by the investigators as “presumption” in notes the investigators made within in his statement,
according to German media outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung.
However, the remarks still resulted in
images of both Jumbo Visma riders being added to the portfolio of photographs
compiled in the initial stages of the investigation.
And news that Dumoulin’s and Roglic’s photos were added to the investigators’ portfolio has now emerged publicly.
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Austrian rider Preidler has admitted to using the blood doping services offered by German doctor Mark Schmidt, who is the main focus of the Operation Aderlass investigation.
He claims he only used the doping service in 2018, has admitted to it and has already received a 12-month suspended prison sentence.
Reports in the Austrian media have
stated when Preidler gave statements to Operation Aderlass investigators he
wondered how Roglic was able to switch from ski jumping to winning a Grand
Tour.
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He also said when he was a Team Sunweb rider, and team mate of Dumoulin, when they prepared for the 2017 season only the top riders were allowed to a high altitude camp.
He told investigators that after that camp, in the spring of 2017, the riders who had gone to it were all in very good form, with Dumoulin going on to win the Giro shortly after.
However, beyond making those observations,
Preidler did not make any direct allegations against Dumoulin or Roglic and
supplied no information about them.
His comments were also marked by investigators with the word “presumption” in the statement he gave.
Jumbo Visma, which Roglic and Dumoulin
now ride for, has said it has never been contacted by the Operation Aderlass
investigators.
It said neither Dumoulin nor Roglic
had ever had any contact with Schmidt, nor had they ever been contacted by the
investigators.
Operation Aderlass has told the German media that Roglic and Dumoulin were "neither listed as accused nor as witnesses".
However, the two riders’ photographs
were initially added to the portfolio of images shown to other people as part
of the Operation Aderlass investigation into blood doping.
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