If Alexandre Vinokourov expected an easy ride during Thursday’s press conference, he was in for something of a shock.

The Tour’s red-hot favorite bristled under repeated questions from testy journalists who queried him about his relationship with Dr. Michele Ferrari, the infamous prepatori who helped Lance Armstrong win seven straight Tour de France victories.

“I started to work with (Ferrari) in 2005. He’s my physical trainer. I have worked hard. I have done nothing banned,” a defensive Vinokourov said. “I only work with him in training programs. I work with the team doctors with questions of medicine.”

The Astaná team captain revealed his relationship with Ferrari earlier this week after word spread among the scandal-hungry press corps that the Kazakh star was quietly working with the controversial Italian doctor.

Vinokourov defended his relationship with Ferrari, saeying that if it was okay for Ferrari to work with Armstrong, it should be okay for him as well.

“Lance Armstrong worked with him and won the Tour seven times, there was no problem. I just needed a better trainer, that’s all,” Vinokourov said. “When journalists hear the name Ferrari, they just think doping, doping, doping. It’s not like that with him. I only work on training programs and he’s the best there is. If I win this Tour, it will be magnificent and I will thank him.”

Journalists also peppered Astaná co-captain Andreas Kloeden and team manager Marc Biver with questions about the recent tell-all interview with ex-German pro Jörg Jaksche, who admitted his connection to the Spanish doping scandal Operación Puerto.

Klöden, who spent most of the press conference sulking with his baseball hat pulled low over his eyes, has also been avoiding the German press in the weeks building up to the Tour.

“I prefer to speak about sport, about the Tour,” Klöden said. “I will not respond to these questions.”

An angry Biver opened the tense press conference with a strongly worded defense of the team in light of recent speculation by a UCI official who called riders the “Men in Black” because they rode in anonymous jerseys to avoid pre-Tour doping controls.

“We’ve had a bad week and we’ve suffered through a media persecution of the team,” an angry Biver said. “There’s been no respect for our team and no respect for our riders. … I regret certain insinuations by the UCI about ‘Men in Black’ that were directed toward us.”

Biver said the team has “nothing to do with the former structure of Manolo Saíz,” referring to the former team owner who was at the center of the Puerto doping scandal.

Biver also said it was the team’s decision to suspend Italian rider Eddy Mazzoleni, who is under suspicion in Italy for alleged links to a doping scandal dating back to 2004.

“The main objective is to win the Tour. We have a good balance of young and experienced riders on the team,” Biver said. “We have a good ambiance on our team now and we want to focus on the Tour.”

If Thursday’s tense press conference was any indication, that might be wishful thinking.