Move taken to ensure team transparency
Respected coach and anti-doping doctor Aldo Sassi will soon begin his co-operation with the Lampre-Farenese Vini team, with the screening and general partnership to begin on October 18th.
The team will head to the Mapei Centre and undergo a full examination there, according to the team today. It clarified the details in a statement. “Under Professor Sassi and his teamwork’s control, the whole roster of the team of Giuseppe Saronni will perform in Centro Mapei the medical checks and the physical tests that will allow to scheduled the programs for 2011 season.”
Sassi is best known as the coach of 2009 world champion Cadel Evans, 2010 Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso and former world TT champ Michael Rogers. He works with riders on the basis that they undergo a full battery of anti-doping tests, including the full body hemoglobin measurements which help ensure they haven’t undergone transfusions.
He has helped restore Basso’s credibility after his Operación Puerto-linked ban.
Sassi was brought on board in August, four months after the team was linked to an investigation into cycling coach Guido Nigrelli and his practices in the town of Mariana Mantovana in Northern Italy.
According to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, current and former riders with the Lampre squad plus team officials were amongst those being scrutinized. The work with Sassi is a move to help show that the team is competing in the right way, as well as aiding the riders to achieve their best possible performances.
Doctor Carlo Guardascione previously gave details of cooperation: “The whole medical staff of the team welcomed with satisfaction the chance to operate with the centre based in Castellanza, a well-advanced setup,” he said.
“The activity will develop on two levels; the first one is the blood screening with the measurement of the haemoglobin mass. [It is] a method that is valuable thanks to the technology of Centro Mapei, and will make it possible to achieve precise internal checks so that we can obtain precise data that can be evaluated by the team medical staff. These data will be important in order to control the transparency of the athletes.”
Boosting performance is also a goal, and so physiological data will be gathered to ensure the riders are training as efficiently as possible. “The second facet of the cooperation will be the series of functional evaluation tests that will be fundamental to give data on which customised training programs can be set for each cyclist. These programs will be agreed with the sport directors.”
He also said that biomechanical and nutritional guidance will also be provided.
The 2011 lineup will include former Giro d’Italia champion and triple Tour of Lombardy winner Damiano Cuengo, who has had a quiet season but who hopes to be back to full strength.
Sassi is currently battling brain cancer. He recently travelled to Australia to participate in the New Pathways for Pro Cycling conference and to watch the world championships.