When I came forward with my story and little by little I started talking with friends who knew me back then and officials and people involved in cycling, they all told me they knew something was wrong. They could see it. I was not the same person I was before. They knew something was wrong, but I was winning and they were afraid that if they said something or helped me to get away from him, I wouldn't win anymore. They didn't want to be responsible for my not winning. In my opinion, on my story, I think there were some people who were highly placed who knew that, but I was winning and I was bringing funding to the program, so they didn't want to say anything, or they knew but they looked away so I could keep winning.
On December 5th, 2022. See this statement in context.