The Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari who has been banned for life, claims that it is "absolutely galse" that he visited the Astana team camp in Montecatini Terme in 2013. The doctor denies the report - describing it as "extremely confusing" - that was published by La Gazzetta dello Sport this morning about Ferrai attending the camp, claiming that photos taken by the public prosecutor in Padua, backed their allegations. However, Ferrari does not deny that he has coached some Kazakh riders, including current Astana manager Alexandre Vinokourov and says that the connection has never been a secret.

Michele Ferrari has reacted to the information in La Gazzetta dello Sport that links him to the Astana team camp in Montecatini Terme in November 2013. The Italian newspaper refers to a 550-page report by the public prosecutor of Padua which allegedly links 90 rirders to an international network of doping. "I feel obliged, much to my regret, to once again deny the latest media reports regarding my presence at the Astana team camp in Montecatini in November last year," he writes in a statement posted on his website 53x12. He even jokes about it: "I've been in that town, if I remember correctly, in 1994 to try their famous waffles."

He insists that the information "is absolutely false and the those responsible for the claims, will have to defend themselves before the competent courts: the article in La Gazzetta dello Sport, among other extraordinarily misleading statements, claims that'm living between Lugano and Ferrara. I have always lived in Ferrara, 26 years in a row, and I have a studio and a house in Lugano, "he says.

However, he does not reject his past work and links: "Until a few years ago I trained some of the Astana riders, including Vinokourov. Ithas never been a secret. I have never tried to hide anything, I attended camos in which there were many other riders, all in full daylight."

Finally, it points to the International Cycling Union (UCI): "Interestingly Teide and St. Moritz which were once suspicious locations according to the UCI, have now been 'cleaned' and are more popular than ever among riders and teams who are not under suspicion."