The Dutch NUSport magazine has claimed that former US Postal and Discovery Channel rider Max van Heeswijk has admitted to using EPO during his career, saying that the 38 year old accepted during the June 17th interview that he used the banned substance.
He had previously denied doping during his career. According to the magazine, the retired rider gave an hour long interview, during which he spoke about doping in the peloton and made his admission, then backtracked and asked for his comments to be withdrawn.
It claims that when the journalist refused to agree, Van Heeswijk grabbed the disk containing the recording and binned it. The writer demanded it back, but was then ushered out of the interview location.
NuSport states that it repeatedly sought to contact the rider via phone calls and SMS message, and when he did not respond, reported the matter to the police as theft.
The magazine released some details yesterday prior to today’s publication of the article; in response, Van Heeswijk denied both the admission and the theft of the disk to the Limburg TV and Radio station L1
“It's just gossip journalism,” he said. “I've always been a clean rider and there is no question of doping.” He added that he had tried to prevent publication of the article, and would seek damages.
Van Heeswijk turned pro with Motorola in 1995. He competed with the Rabobank, Mapei and Domo-Farm Frites teams between 1997 and 2002, then raced for the US Postal Service and Discovery Channel setups between 2003 and 2006. His final two teams were Rabobank and Willems, both of which were one year deals.
He won several races during a 14 year pro career, including Paris-Brussels in 2000, the Watchovia International in 2004 and then a stage of the Vuelta a España in 2005.
NuSport’s interest in his background is thought to relate to the ongoing investigation of the US Postal Service team.