Ineos-Grenadiers staff member David Rozman leaves Tour de France over doping allegation links

COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Ineos-Grenadiers soigneur David Rozman has left the Tour de France in the wake of media reports linking him to disgraced German doctor Mark Schmidt, the convicted head of an international blood doping ring.

Rozman “has stepped back from race duties and has left the Tour,” Ineos-Grenadiers said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Thursday, noting that Rozman had received a request from the International Testing Agency (ITA) to attend an interview. It comes following reports alleging Rozman exchanged incriminating text messages with Schmidt going back to June 2012.

Ineos-Grenadiers was racing as Team Sky at the time, when Rozman worked with 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, and Chris Froome, who won four Tour titles with the British team. There was no suggestion any of them engaged in illegal activity.

Soigneurs are part of the support team staff, with a focus on the riders’ welfare.

Schmidt was convicted of treating cyclists and winter-sports athletes with blood doping for years at the culmination of the Operation Aderlass criminal investigation in 2021. Schmidt, who previously worked for the Gerolsteiner cycling team, was accused of violating drug and doping laws in nearly 150 cases from his medical practice in Erfurt, Germany.

German broadcaster ARD linked Rozman – without specifically naming him – to Schmidt in a documentary aired last month, when it alleged that a man working for Ineos-Grenadiers had in 2012 exchanged incriminating messages with Schmidt according to chat logs from the Operation Aderlass trial in Munich.

Journalist Paul Kimmage, a former rider, subsequently named Rozman in a piece he wrote for the Irish Independent newspaper, and other outlets followed suit.

Ineos-Grenadiers said Thursday it was aware of the allegations but had not received any evidence nor had it been asked to take part in any inquiry. It said Rozman was informally contacted by an ITA staff member in April 2025 “about alleged historical communications” and Rozman immediately notified the team.

“Although the ITA assured David at the time that he was not under investigation, Ineos promptly commissioned a thorough review by an external law firm,” the team said. “The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team. The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA.”