Following the string of revelations from former Telekom riders that they used banned performance-enhancing products during the team’s heyday in the mid-1990s, former team manager Walter Godefroot has denied having a role in the doping bonanza.

Godefroot, who was the Telekom’s team manager from 1992 before retiring in 2005, held a press conference Tuesday in Ghent, Belgium, to refute speculations that the team had systematic doping. Seven former Telekom riders, including 1996 Tour de France champion Bjarne Riis, have admitted to doping following the revelations of a former soigneur, Jeff d’Hondt.

“I didn’t know about the (doping) practices of the riders and I wasn’t behind any sort of system (of doping),” said Godefroot, refuting allegations by d’Hondt that Godefroot orchestrated the cheating. “I have always denied these accusations and I am not going to stand for it anymore. I have the support of personnel, collaborators and of other riders.”

Godefroot, 64, returned as an advisor to the Astana team at the request of team captain Alexander Vinokourov.

The ghosts of Telekom keep haunting him, however, and he was forced to call a press conference this week in face of mounting pressure from media speculation.

“I was worried organizing the team, the programs, the preparation for the races,” Godefroot insisted. “I was never involved with questions of medicine. I never brought this subject up with the riders.”

German cycling has been rocked following the string of doping confessions from the biggest stars of the 1990s, including Erik Zabel, Udo Bölts, Rolf Aldag, Christian Henn and others.

Telekom dominated the mid-1990s, winning back to back Tours with Riis in 1996 and Jan Ullrich in 1997.

“The fact that I didn’t know doesn’t mean I was blind to what was going on in the peloton in the 1990s. Believe me, before 1996, I didn’t know anything about EPO or hematocrit,” Godefroot said. “Certain riders passed their capacities.”

Godefroot said he’s preparing legal action against d’Hondt.

He also refused to comment on Ullrich, who was Telekom’s star after finishing second behind teammate Riis in the 1996 Tour and becoming the first German to win the Tour in 1997.

“I won’t talk about other people,” Godefroot said. “You have to ask them.”

Di Luca heads to beach
Danilo Di Luca is packing his bags and heading on vacation.

The recently crowned Giro d’Italia champion says the Tour de France won’t be part of his summer plans.

“I am going on vacation. I won’t race the Tour,” Di Luca said after winning his first Giro on Sunday. “I also won Liège-Bastogne-Liège and I’ve been racing at a high level for a long time. I need a break. I will skip the Tour and prepare for the world championships.”

Di Luca, 31, said his next major goal will be the 2007 world championships in Germany. Last year, Di Luca raced and won a stage at the Vuelta a España ahead of the Salzburg world’s. So far he hasn’t indicated whether he’d race the Spanish tour or not.

Other Giro protagonists have different plans for July. Fourth-place finisher Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval-Prodir) will not be starting the Tour, either. Neither will be surprise runner-up Andy Schleck (CSC) while Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) has entirely ruled out a Tour start, though he’s indicated he’ll likely skip the French race this year but target the 2008 Tour as his main goal for the season.

Third-place finisher Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana) will return to his role as gregario for team captains Alexander Vinokourov and Andreas Klöden. Paolo Savoldelli, winner of the final time trial, is also Tour-bound to help the Astana captains. Iban Mayo, winner of stage 19, enters the Tour as Saunier Duval’s top GC hope.

Tinkoff satisfied
Tinkoff Credit Systems delivered on its promise to liven up the Giro d’Italia with its wild card berth. The Russian-Italian team was present in nearly every major breakaway but came short of reaching the team’s goal of winning a stage. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying.

Team boss Oleg Tinkov expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance. “It is true that I was focusing on a stage win in my plans, but now I can say I’m happy with the performance despite the fact that the victory was not achieved. Perhaps we’ve earned something, we have more recognition, popularity, and both the audience and the officials liked our attacking style,” Tinkov said on the team’s web page. “With Mikhail Ignatiev we took two trophies. Evgeni Petrov finished as high as seventh in the general classification, his absolute height so far, but I’m sure next time he’ll be a serious contender for top-3. For me there’s something special in helping Petrov to open up his talent, our home cities are just 20 kilometers apart in Siberia.”

The team saw eight of its nine riders arriving in Milan, with only youngest rider 19-year-old Ivan Rovny pulling out after two weeks.

“Talking about the prospects, I think that Pavel Brutt will develop into a good rider for stage races, this time he simply rode with a different focus. As to Mikhail Ignatiev, surely next year he’ll achieve a stage win as he learned a lot about tactics and managing his efforts,” Tinkov continued. “I talked in Milan with Mario Cipollini, he spoke highly of Ignatiev’s and Nikolay Trusov’s turn of speed, the expert advice of such a great sprinter would be of much help to youngsters just over 20.”

Up next for the team are the Eindhoven TTT event as well as respective national championships.

Moncoutié future in doubt
The future of French rider David Moncoutié is in question as he continues to recover from a nasty crash at the Tour de Romandie last month.

Moncoutié will likely miss the Tour de France as he needs another month to recover from a broken leg. The 32-year-old Cofidis rider broke his femur and should be able to resume training within a month, but it’s unlikely he’ll be in condition to race the Tour.

The team said that they will save a place on the team for Moncoutié if he wants to continue racing next season. Moncoutié, who won stages in the 2004 and 2005 Tours, is in the final year of his contract with Cofidis, the only team he’s ever raced with as a professional.

“We’ll let him decide. He’s in the final year of his contract with us, but we’ll keep a place for him,” team manager Eric Boyer told AFP. “He’ll need to proceed in stages. First to be healed, then to resume physical activity, riding the bike, that’s going to be at least a month. Then we’ll see if he wants to continue his career.” Sicily start for 2008 Giro
There’s another island start on tap for the 2008 Giro d’Italia. After its successful depart in Sardinia (if you don’t count the botched overnight ferry transfer), next year’s Giro will start in Sicily. The opening stage will be in Palermo, the first time the Giro will return to Sicily since 1986.

QuickStep signs with three
Three riders have signed contracts for the 2008 season with QuickStep-Innergetic, the team announced. Matteo Tosatto, Leonardo Scarselli and Jurgen Van De Walle all signed for one year for the 2008 campaign.