I made a big mistake. There's no doubt about it. But there have been positive testing cases in the past where the offender wasn't attacked to quite the same extent, especially not by other riders.

The patient in the bed next to me told me that the newspapers were reporting on the test, and it was on television all day long.

I stayed in Hamburg a few more days, and during that time I received a visit from Rolf Aldag, the sporting director at T-Mobile. He advised me to tell the truth.

The truth is that things were already going so poorly for me that nothing surprised me anymore. But then the BKA sent 20 agents to search my house.

Riders called me up afterwards to say that they had had no other choice. I couldn't understand the way they changed their tune.

My mother had to justify the fact that she had heart pills.

I spent my first two years as a professional with Mapei in Italy, on their youth team. We rode in minor races. Doping wasn't an issue. S