Following the reassertion of Bahrain McLaren team manager Milan Erjen's name in connection with the case, his lawyer denied that he had ever worked with Dr. Mark Schmidt, who is currently on trial in Munich for his involvement in the Adelrath blood doping He stated.

According to Germany's DPA news agency (opens in new tab), the investigator who questioned Dr. Schmidt during the investigation said in court in Munich on Friday that the German doctor revealed that Ergen "wanted to establish a business relationship."

The DPA and many German and other media outlets also reported that Ergen had requested "a machine" from Dr. Schmidt.

When Erjen's name was first linked to Dr. Schmidt in 2019, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that investigators from the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), the anti-doping arm of the UCI, had learned that Erjen, through an intermediary in Croatia information was provided indicating that he was in contact with Dr. Schmidt and had documentation that he had apparently purchased a centrifuge (a piece of equipment used to separate red blood cells from plasma in blood transfusions).

Investigators testified in court that Dr. Schmidt refused to cooperate with Elgen and subsequently did not respond to text messages.

At least 23 athletes, including prominent cross-country skiers and professional cyclists from eight countries, were implicated in the Adelrath doping investigation.

According to a profile in Italy's Corriere della Sera, Erjen is considered the "dominus" of the Slovenian cycling world. He has already caught the eye of the UCI, but no formal investigation has been initiated and he has been granted a professional cycling license.

Cyclingnews attempted to contact Eržen by phone, but he was unavailable.

His lawyer, Tomažin Bolcar, issued a statement on the website of the Slovenian website Siol.net: "Between 2013 and 2016, Milan Eržen has not fulfilled any function in cycling. Therefore, the text messages to Dr. Schmidt from 2014 have nothing to do with cycling."

The statement was also published on the website Siol.net.

He added, "Furthermore, no form of collaboration exists between Ergen and Schmidt, and they have never established a relationship, either business or personal."

Milan Erjen also had no relationship with Primosz Roglic or Tadei Pogachar. One can only speculate as to why there is such pretentious international media coverage, which is summarized by the Slovenian media. Most likely, it is an attempt to associate it with the success of Slovenian cycling in recent years."

The two Slovenian riders who finished first and second in the Tour de France have never been linked to the Adelrath investigation or any wrongdoing.

However, in apparent contradiction to the comments of Erjen's lawyer, Roglic told Cycling News in 2019, "He [Erjen] was the head coach of the Adria team in 2013 when I started and was also my coach and DS for a year. We got along well and had no problems. We didn't have much contact. He tried to sign me from time to time. But he was Slovenian, so he was like a friend."[27

In October 2019, Kristijan Koren and Borut Bozic, both members of the Bahrain Merida team, were banned for two years in connection with a doping ring uncovered by Operation Aderlass.

Stefan Denifl, George Preidler, and Kristijan Durasek received four-year bans for doping, while German sprinter Danilo Hondo and former teammate Alessandro Petacchi were banned for 2012 and 2013 Hondo was banned for two years for doping violations dating back to 2012 and 2013. Hondo has since confessed to doping and being a client of Dr. Schmidt. Petacchi continues to deny any wrongdoing.

Trial hearings in recent weeks have revealed further details of Dr. Schmidt's involvement with Adelas. Schmidt's staff and assistants were questioned, and a German doctor offered to provide written testimony and a medical freezer to store the COVID-19 vaccine.

Schmidt admitted doping athletes in an earlier trial in September; the delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic means the trial will last until June 2021. Schmidt could face up to 10 years in prison under German law.