Halfway through the last Vuelta, beneath the display of the Jumbo’s mechanical banana, a dull background noise filled the peloton and a little hidden desire. Do you know the papers? Have you received the papers? Will you not publish any of the papers?
The papers that everyone knew, that some wanted to see published, that feared the Vuelta and that others wanted to silence, consisted of several pages containing the transcription of dozens of conversations and WhatsApp audios from the summary of the Guardia Civil’s Operation Ilex against Contained doping. They were recorded in the last quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 and reflect the contacts of several runners from the Caja Rural team with the doctor Marcos Maynar from the University of Extremadura.
Operation Ilex, led by a court in Cáceres, led to the suspension for alleged doping of Superman López, who was released from Astana and returned to a Colombian team, and to investigations into an alleged doping crime against Vicente Belda, the former director of Kelme, who already In 2006, who was involved in Operation Puerto, and his son, also Vicente, who worked as López’s masseuse in the Kazakh team.
The papers were received in early September, when the Vuelta was already underway, either in bulky envelopes by post from a post office in Vitoria or by email in PDF format to those responsible for the 22 teams running the Vuelta. and reached the offices of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Cycling Federation (UCI), the Spanish Cycling Federation, the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency, the Vuelta a España and the editorial offices of some newspapers and radio stations (not according to EL PAÍS).
“This is the massive dissemination of a partial and decontextualized report anonymously with the aim of damaging the reputation of this team, the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA,” they explain from the Navarrese team, which has filed a complaint with the Guardia Civil in Madrid . “in the event that the facts could constitute a crime” of revealing secrets. “Due to the ignorance of the person(s) responsible for the events, the complaint is not directed against any specific person and this is expressly stated.” However, the team has clues, although not conclusive evidence, as to who the person responsible was could be.
Previously, according to sources from the Guardia Civil, which was already investigating the delivery, the Cáceres court of Operation Ilex had opened a separate procedure for this revelation, which, according to initial police reports that coincided with those of the Caja Rural, would come from a leader of a team , who is unhappy about not taking part in the Vuelta. In Spain, in addition to Movistar, which belongs to the WorldTeam category and has a fixed right to take part in the major events, there are four teams in the second league, the ProTeam, which can only take part in the race by invitation. Not all of them fit. In 2022, Unipublic, the organizer of the Vuelta, invited three of them – Kern Pharma, Euskaltel Euskadi and Burgos BH – leaving Caja Rural out. In 2023 he invited only two, Caja Rural and Burgos. For everyone, taking part in the Vuelta is a priority goal.
Investigating Operation Ilex, the Civil Guard confirmed that dozens of athletes, particularly cyclists, had contact with Maynar about the use of certain substances and training advice, but the papers that flooded the Vuelta referred only to the conversations they had with him had Sulfuric Doctor holding some corridors of the Caja Rural. Through them and from the words of Maynar and the runners, the Civil Guard investigators concluded that the contact between both parties had been established by Juan Manuel Hernández, manager and sports manager of the team.
Venezuelan cyclist Orluis Aular of Caja Rural in the 12th stage of the Vuelta before retiring. Alexander Hassenstein (Getty Images)
“The conversations are not proof that a doping crime has been committed, nor can the runners be punished, because although he is under investigation and has been involved in other doping cases for years, Maynar is not suspended for doping in Spain, although the “He has been in Portugal for 10 years, between 2009 and 2019, and he can help whoever he wants,” say sources in the investigation, who regret the lack of help from the most affected teams and athletes, following the law of silence respect when they ask for collaboration to delve deeper into Maynar’s storyline. “What they are doing is not a crime, but they are doing it behind the backs of the rest of the team and against UCI regulations, which stipulate that athletes can only be treated by trainers and doctors listed on the team’s official roster.”
Everyone in the cycling world was focused on the Vuelta, the impatient and fearful, those who wanted the matter not to be talked about at all, and a rival team that didn’t particularly like Caja Rural and encouraged journalists to tell everything, Finally followed the ostrich tactic. Everyone stuck their heads in the sand and waited for the unusual storm to pass. Neither the Spanish federation, the UCI nor the anti-doping agency have addressed the investigation and Caja Rural says it will make the necessary decisions internally.
Only and in the background, Unipublic, the Vuelta’s organizing company, responded by speaking to Caja Rural officials and asking them that it was their responsibility to ensure that the matter did not affect the race. The day after the conversation, the team’s best rider, Venezuelan champion Orluis Aular, a great sprinter (second on the Oliva stage), withdrew from the Vuelta citing “malaise”. Aular was the only rider in the Navarrese team’s Vuelta lineup whose name appeared in the talking papers with Maynar. The only victim with a first and last name of the paper trick, a “completely innocent” athlete, took part in the Tour of Croatia three weeks later, according to investigators. He won a stage and won the final overall.
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