page_title: Operation Aderlass
section_title: Cycling
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Aderlass / History / Involved athletes / Cycling
caption_attribution_description: English: Alessandro Petacchi, wearer of the points jersey after the stage in Drammen.
context_page_description: Operation Aderlass is an investigation in Austria and Germany into alleged doping practices carried out by Erfurt-based German physician Mark Schmidt. Athletes from various disciplines have been named as alleged customers of Schmidt's, receiving illegal blood transfusion for the purpose of enhancing performances, with several of them having confessed.
context_section_description: On 3 March 2019, Stefan Denifl, who last rode for the Aqua Blue Sport team, confessed to using blood doping under the assistance of Schmidt. One day later, Georg Preidler, riding for Groupama–FDJ at the time, also confessed to having had two blood extractions with Schmidt in late 2018, but denied having actually doped. He nevertheless terminated his contract with the team. Both Denifl and Preidler were provisionally suspended by the sport's governing body, the UCI. Both were handed four-year bans by the Austrian anti-doping organisation on 27 June 2019, and might face charges for commercial sports fraud in addition to their suspensions. On 22 July 2020, Preidler was found guilty of fraud by the Innsbruck Regional Court and handed a twelve-month suspended prison sentence as well as being fined €2,880.
  On 13 May 2019, Danilo Hondo confessed in an interview with German broadcaster ARD to having used blood doping under Schmidt during 2011, when riding with Lampre–ISD. He was subsequently fired from his job as coach for the Swiss cycling federation.
  On 14 May 2019, French newspaper Le Monde announced that retired Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi had allegedly worked with Schmidt in 2012 and 2013. Petacchi denied the accusations, but was nevertheless provisionally suspended by the UCI one day later. On 24 August 2019, Petacchi was given a two-year period of ineligibility from the UCI. Alongside Petacchi, Kristijan Koren (Bahrain–Merida), Kristijan Đurasek (UAE Team Emirates), and Borut Božič were also implicated and provisionally suspended. Koren and Đurasek were at the time riding the 2019 Giro d'Italia and the 2019 Tour of California respectively, while Božič worked as a directeur sportif for the Bahrain–Merida team. Later the same day, Bahrain–Merida and UAE Team Emirates confirmed that they had pulled their riders from the races. On 9 October, the UCI handed both Koren and Božič two-year bans from competition. On 13 November 2019, Đurasek was given a four-year ban from the UCI for his part in the doping practices.
  On 19 May 2019, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported links by Slovenian Milan Eržen to Operation Aderlass, while Eržen was serving as managing director of the Bahrain–Merida team. On 22 May, it was announced that the UCI had been following the activities of Eržen and Slovenian cycling in general in several investigations.
  In May 2019, the UCI suspended mountain biker Christina Kollmann due to blood doping violations in relation to Operation Aderlass. She was subsequently banned from competition for four years and received an eight-month suspended jail sentence from an Austrian court in August 2019.
  On 27 November 2019, the UCI announced that they had requested anti-doping samples from 2016 and 2017 to be retested, citing information gathered from Austrian authorities.
  Retired cyclist Pirmin Lang, who last rode for IAM Cycling, admitted to his involvement with Aderlass on 22 February 2020, following investigations by Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He was subsequently dismissed by Swiss Racing Academy, a team he had co-founded and where he was employed as manager and directeur sportif.
caption: Alessandro Petacchi pictured in 2012, when he allegedly worked with Schmidt for the purposes of doping
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