Arbitration Date Set for Bruyneel
After many months of waiting a source has told RoadCycling.com USADA is finally bringing Johan Bruyneel, Pedro Celaya, and Jose "Pepe" Marti before an arbitration panel. The dates are December 16-20th, 2013 and the arbitration will be held in London, England.
In a charging letter from last year USADA is claiming, "numerous riders will testify that Mr. Bruyneel gave to them and/or encouraged them to use doping products and/or prohibited methods, including EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone, hGH and cortisone during the period from 1999 through 2007."
Pedro Celaya was the Postal Service team doctor until 1999 when Lance Armstrong had him replaced because he felt the doctor wasn’t aggressive enough with PED use. Jose "Pepe" Marti was the team trainer on the Postal Service and Discovery Channel team.
USADA handed down a lifetime ban against Marti, which he accepted. USADA charged Marti with transporting PEDS "including EPO, testosterone, human growth hormone (hGH) and cortisone from Valencia, Spain to locations where the riders were living in Europe including Nice, France and Girona, Spain and at training camps and cycling races."
In an earlier report USADA’s Travis Tygart told Cyclingnews, "The respondents (which included Marti) chose not to waste resources by moving forward with the arbitration process, which would only reveal what they already know to be the truth of their doping activity." So it’s not clear why Marti is being brought before the London arbitration panel. Perhaps it’s to give evidence against Bruyneel?
In January the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Bruyneel wanted "to put everything into the right context and correct the false image that the USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) report, the media, and people like Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis have given".
Velonews.com reported that Bruyneel was working on a book to show his side of the story. I’m guessing it’s not a follow up to his self-help, "We Might As Well Win" book.
Witnesses will be called to give testimony and it’s my understanding that it will show that Bruyneel organized and encouraged PED use within the team.
Bruyneel now calls London home, so maybe that’s why the location was chosen for the panel hearing. The evidence against the three appears pretty damning, but the Belgian has said he wants people to hear his side of the story. It looks like this December he’ll get that chance.
