Following reports that the Innsbruck Prosecutor's Office has charged Georg Preidler (open in new tab) with fraud for doping in 2017, Team Sunweb (open in new tab), of which the Austrian was a member two years ago, will claim damages if the charges are true and has threatened to do so.

Tom Dumoulin, former leader of Team Sunweb, also opened his mouth and admitted, "I may have had teammates who didn't race clean. That's a bitter pill to swallow."

Prosecutor Thomas Willam announced Wednesday that this constitutes serious sports fraud, charging Plydler with "regularly blood doping and taking growth hormone from the spring 2017 Giro d'Italia until his doping confession. Plydler must file an appeal within two weeks.

Preidler was one of Tom Dumoulin's key domestiques in winning the 2017 Giro d'Italia with Team Sunweb; if his 2017 doping reports were true, Preidler left the team in 2018 and moved to Groupama-FDJ Despite this, Team Sunweb has declared that it will sue for damages.

"This violation is 100% contrary to the agreement we made with the rider," the team said in a statement to AD.nl. 'For this reason we will also contact his last team, Groupama-FDJ, to see if they can help us in this matter. We consider them victims of this situation as well.

The team did not renew Pridler's contract after the 2017 season, but said it had nothing to do with the value of his biological passport. 11]

"It had to do with the question of whether he would still fit well with our team and vision, whether we could count on him and rely on the agreements made together."

In March, the team did not renew Pridler's contract.

In March, Pridler and fellow Austrian Stefan Denifle were provisionally suspended by the UCI following the revelations of Operation Adelrath. The two were associated with Mark Schmidt, the doctor at the center of the investigation into blood doping, and 40 bags of blood were found stored in a garage associated with Schmidt. Plydler initially confessed that the blood was removed in 2018, but denied that it was ever re-injected.

"This news shows once again how important and relevant anti-doping is in our sport," Team Sunweb said.

"Ultimately, we cannot change a person's nature, but we can change their behavior for the better through effective investigative mechanisms. We have always argued that we need a more independent management structure. This would increase the likelihood of detection and at least make us more inclined to reduce these kinds of harmful mistakes. The fact that our partner Sunweb wants to invest in more independent doping control (through doping agencies) after 2018 proves how valuable it is. This increases the risk to athletes as more data becomes available and the likelihood of being caught increases.

Tom Dumoulin issued a statement via social media, recalling the time he had Plydler as a teammate, saying that they were very close at one point and that he was angry and upset at the news that Plydler might have been involved in doping.

Dumoulin said he was "proud" of his victory in the Giro d'Italia, but if Plydler had not raced clean, "that would be a bitter pill to swallow."

The Dutchman is currently recovering from a knee injury suffered in the Giro d'Italia and is not expected to race again in 2019.

Dumoulin's full statement:

Earlier this year, Georg Preidler, my former teammate from 2013 to 2017, confessed that he had been using doping since 2018 if I remember correctly. I was angry and upset. Especially because I had considered him one of my closest teammates during our first few years together on the team.

We connected on a personal level. We were the same age and had the same goals and mindset. To work hard and be at the top of the professional cycling world. In hindsight, he had very different ideas about 'mindset' and 'working hard to get to the top' than I did.

Apart from being angry and upset to hear the news, I was also relieved to hear that his doping use began after he left Team Sunweb. 2]

Unfortunately, I read today that Georg Preidler was also charged with doping use in 2017, including the Giro, which I won.

I am shocked to read that. I am and will always be proud of that win. But now I know that I may have had a teammate who did not have a clean race. That's a bitter pill to swallow.

I don't know if that is true. But honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. He was no longer the jovial Georg I knew. He seemed bitter, unstable, and self-contained. I think it was very difficult for him to realize that he had tried as hard as he could, but that it wasn't enough to become the rider he wanted to be.

I think that's a question that all athletes, including myself, face from time to time in our careers. But he got into doping. So I'm angry.' Yes.

He made a terrible life decision that affected many people around him as well. He made a mistake and he will pay the price for it. But I don't want to speak out against anyone, especially those I considered close to me in the past.

I hope he can get his life back on track and find the fun and wonderful person in him. I know it has been there since the beginning when we were teammates and I hope he knows that about himself.

In other news, I will be sending out updates on my rehab soon.