Michele Ferrari | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ferrara,Emilia-Romagna, Italy |
| Alma mater | University of Ferrara |
| Occupations | Physician, cycling coach, author |
| Known for | Committing numerous anti-doping violations |
Michele Ferrari is an Italian physician,cycling coach and author, who is mostly known for his role in supplying bicycle racers withperformance-enhancing drugs, notablyEPO. His most famous client wasLance Armstrong.
Ferrari was born inFerrara,Emilia-Romagna, Italy, on 26 March 1953, where he still lives.
In 1978, he obtained his degree in Medicine and Surgery at theUniversity of Ferrara. His doctoral thesis concerned the measurement ofanaerobic threshold in the sport of running.
Ferrari was a consultant to the Italian Track and Field Federation (FIDAL) from 1977 to 1980. He became a specialist in sports medicine at theSapienza University of Rome in 1981.He was a co-author of more than 20 papers in journals of sports physiology. He studied parameters of athletes in a variety of sports, such as track and field, cycling, swimming, skiing, and speed skating. Subsequently, until 1983, he was the sports physician of the Italian National Biathlon team (FISI).
Eventually, he settled on his lifelong interest: the development of training programmes for professional cyclists. One of Ferrari's earliest successes was coachingFrancesco Moser to achieve thehour record in 1984, crushingEddy Merckx's mark by more than a mile.
Initially, Ferrari worked with ProfessorFrancesco Conconi at the University of Ferrara, who developed testing techniques for human performance, using methods such as monitoring the heart rate during exercise and recovery. Another controversial Italian doctor,Luigi Cecchini, is their common disciple.
From 1984 onwards, Ferrari achieved extraordinary improvements in the fitness of many cyclists. Ferrari popularised the use ofVAM, a parameter now used in cycling as a measure of fitness and speed.
In 1994, Ferrari was the team doctor forGewiss. The team had an excellent season, winning many races. In theFlèche Wallonne, the team realized a historic triple victory. Concerned by the domination of the Italian team, some observers pointed a finger of suspicion at the team doctor. Far from calming this controversy, Ferrari comparederythropoietin toorange juice. "EPO is not dangerous, it's the abuse that is. It's also dangerous to drink 10 liters of orange juice".[1] This statement cost him his job as team physician. But his reputation was made, and his name thereafter was associated with the use ofEPO in particular. In 1995, Ferrari started his own private medical practice.
Professional bicycle racers who were clients, in some capacity, of Ferrari include:Lance Armstrong,Michael Rogers,Alexander Vinokourov,Michele Scarponi,Denis Menchov,Giovanni Visconti,Yaroslav Popovych,Alessandro Bertolini,Gianluca Bortolami,Gianni Bugno,Mario Cipollini,Claudio Chiappucci,Roman Kreuziger,Armand de Las Cuevas,Fernando Escartín,Gianni Faresin,Giorgio Furlan,Ivan Gotti,Andreas Kappes,Kevin Livingston,Eddy Mazzoleni,Axel Merckx,Thomas Dekker,Abraham Olano,Daniele Pontoni,Tony Rominger,Paolo Savoldelli,Filippo Simeoni,Pavel Tonkov,Enrico Zaina andBeat Zberg.[2][3]
Perhaps the most famous athlete to have been coached or advised by Ferrari is Lance Armstrong. Ferrari claims they were introduced to each other byEddy Merckx in 1995.[4] Earlier that year, Armstrong had begun doping.[5] Ferrari was involved with theUS Postal Service Cycling Team until October 2004, helping Armstrong train during several of his seven consecutiveTour de France victories.Tyler Hamilton, Armstrong's teammate who later confessed to doping, worked with Ferrari for one year, according to his own account in a television interview.[6]
In October 2004, Ferrari was sentenced to one year's prison (suspended) and a fine of 900 euros, for sporting fraud and abusive exercise of the profession ofpharmacist.[7] Ferrari's conviction in Italian court was based partly on testimony from Italian bicycle racerFilippo Simeoni. Admitting he had been doped since 1993, Simeoni told how he became affiliated with Ferrari in 1996. Simeoni testified that, in addition to a prescription ofEPO hormone, "we spoke about Andriol (testosterone), which I was to use after hard training sessions, with the aim of increasing my muscular power. Dr. Ferrari recommended I useEmagel the morning before controls, and another product to decrease myhematocrit."[8] Ferrari argued, in his defence: "Andriol is easily detectable for several days in a normal urine test, so, it is impossible that I suggested he take one Andriol 20 hours before another race."
Lance Armstrong responded to Ferrari's guilty verdict for malpractice in the Italian Court case:
Ferrari then announced his intention to appeal his sentence. Ferrari was acquitted of all charges against him on 27 May 2006, because, according to the court, "the facts do not exist" to support the charges.[10]
On 13 June 2012, Ferrari was officially charged byUSADA with administration and trafficking of prohibited substances.[11][12] As Ferrari did not formally contest this indictment, he was issued a lifetime ban from professional sport in July 2012.[13] In December 2012, Ferrari still protested his innocence in an interview withAl Jazeera. He notably stated about Lance Armstrong in that interview: “So, either he was clean – and in my opinion, he was clean and he says he was clean – or the tests are not powerful,” Ferrari added, before laughing: “Or theUCI was corrupt.”[14] In January 2013, afterLance Armstrong had confessed to usingPEDs, Ferrari claimed on his blog that the cyclist could have achieved similar blood values and performance withaltitude training.[15]
In November 2013, Armstrong settled a lawsuit with Acceptance Insurance Company (AIC). AIC had sought to recover $3 million it had paid Armstrong as bonuses for winning the Tour de France from 1999–2001. The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum one day before Armstrong was scheduled to give a deposition under oath. In written testimony for the suit, Armstrong admitted under oath that Ferrari had been one of four individuals who had supplied him with PEDs during his cycling career.[16][17]