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Clouds loom over Galletti death
Reuters
While further tests are to follow Thursday's autopsy on Alessio Galletti, reports reveal repeated brushes with the law in doping affairs surrounding Mario Cipollini's former gregario. The autopsy did confirm that the 37-year old Italian died of a heart failure while racing in Spain on Wednesday.
Galletti died suddenly Wednesday afternoon during the Subida al Naranco mountain race. After the autopsy in Oviedo, his body was to be transfered first to Madrid on Saturday before being sent to Rome. Full results of the examination are not expected for another two to three months.
His Naturino-Sapore di Mare team has decided to suspend participation in all races it was taking part in until next week.
It turns out that the model team-mate had a long history of brushes with the law.
Tipped off by a former dealer, investigators in 2000 raided his home in Cacsina, Tuscanny. "In his fridge, we found a vial of Eprex - EPO - and an empty box of Andriol - testosterone," an investigator told French newspaper Le Monde. Galletti was then suspended for four months.
Four years later, police raided his Brunico hotel room on the Giro d'Italia. They found nothing but magistrates in Rome charged him on the basis of phone tappings. Because of the procedure, his Domina Vacanze team sacked him just before the 2004 Tour de France.
He was under watch as part of a wider probe into a blood transfusion traficking ring that involved medical equipment stolen from hospitals. On April 14, police noted that Galletti called a suspected ring leader, Maurizio Balestri who was subsequently arrested and charged two months later with peddling doping products.
He asked when he could come to have "the car inspected" , an expression which the carabinieri believe to imply blood transfusions, same as "changing the oil" or "prepare the pastry". The blood samples were said to be refered to as "the envelopes."
Galletti also called two subsequently indicted male nurses at Santa Chiara hospital in Pisa, saying he needed "the wheel with ten spokes to do the time trial." In cycling, there's no such thing as a wheel with ten spokes and investigators believed in their report that "ten was probably an indication on the dosage of the products, 10,000 units of EPO for example."
Last month his name was linked to Carlo Santuccione, a doctor he consulted - as did Danilo Di Luca, Eddy Mazzoleni, and Olympic pole vault champion Guiseppe Gibilisco. Santuccione has been under investigation as part of the Oil for Drugs doping affair in Italy.
Police suspected that Galletti may have played middleman in the traficking of illicit substances. On May 4, 2004, he calls team-mate Mario Scirea - now a sporting director with Liquigas - and says:
"I've bought a full suitcase of stuff from the doctor, there was some left over from before as well... As long as we can, we use these and then when they're finished, we'll use the others. I've got a ton of stuff, you understand? I have a trolley-full," the transcripts reveal Galletti as saying with Scirea replying "Sunday and Monday we'll be in Tuscanny and we'll come to an understanding after having counted everything."
On May 6 in Genoa on the eve of the 2004 Giro, Galletti then called his wife after the mandatory pre-race doping test:
"This year they've introduced the Australian protocol - the blood transfusion detection test put in place by Australian researchers. Let's hope all goes well, but it's not certain."
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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
