David Rozman, the head carer for Ineos Grenadiers, was sent home mid-race from the 2025 Tour de France. The reason? Allegations linking him to a notorious German blood-doping ring, a story that absolutely blew up during last year’s Tour. This wasn’t just some junior staffer either, Rozman’s job involved everything from rider nutrition to massage, basically keeping the athletes in top shape.
Rozman, a Slovenian, had been with the team since 2011, going all the way back to the Team Sky glory days when Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome were dominating the Tour under Sir Dave Brailsford. That’s a long, deep connection to a powerhouse team! The Irish Independent first put Rozman’s name out there in an article during last year’s Tour, followed quickly by L’Equipe and The Times. This all came after a German documentary, “Secret Doping: In the Slipstream,” revealed that an Ineos staff member had allegedly exchanged messages with doping doctor Mark Schmidt. While the documentary didn’t name Rozman for legal reasons, those alleged messages were later used as evidence in Schmidt’s own criminal trial. Schmidt was the ringleader of “Operation Aderlass” a sophisticated doping network involving cyclists and cross-country skiers. Remember that wild image of Austrian skier Max Hauke caught red-handed during a blood transfusion? That was part of this.
Schmidt eventually confessed to almost all 150 charges against him in Munich back in 2020. He got slammed with four years and ten months in prison, a £140,000 fine, and nearly an eight-year ban from practicing medicine. Eight riders, including the legendary Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, were banned from cycling because of Operation Aderlass. But here’s the kicker: the ARD documentary claimed some people implicated in Schmidt’s trial just kept on with their cycling careers and weren’t even investigated by the sports authorities. Rozman, allegedly, was one of those people. The Irish Independent even published some of the alleged messages between Rozman and Schmidt. One text, sent just a month before Wiggins won the 2012 Tour, reportedly asked Schmidt, “Do you still have any of the stuff that Milram [Schmidt’s disgraced former team] used during the races? If so, can you bring it for the boys?” Then, during that very same Tour, the day before Froome won on La Planche des Belle Filles and Wiggins grabbed the yellow jersey, messages allegedly show Schmidt met Rozman for “a beer” at Team Sky’s hotel. Another message even seemed to show Rozman passing Schmidt contact details for a suspected drug dealer in Slovenia, codenamed Maestro Baltazar, who was supposedly dealing banned substances.
The stakes here are huge for the integrity of the sport. The Independent tried to get comments from both Team Ineos leadership and Rozman himself, but they received absolutely no response. With these serious allegations hanging out there, and no one talking, it really makes you wonder what’s going on behind the scenes.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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