Michele Ferrari, the banned doping doctor, issued a statement on her website in response to reports of her relationship with Jacob Fuglsang and the Astana team. The post came after Astana issued a statement distancing itself from the team and the doctor.

The Italian, who has been banned for life from involvement in cycling for doping a number of riders, issued a pointed rebuttal to an article published Sunday night by the Danish news media Politiken, the Danish television station DR, and the Norwegian newspaper VG published on Sunday night.

The allegations emerged after reports of a meeting between Fuglsang and a doctor and Ferrari's alleged accompanying Astana at the 2019 Volta a Catalunya were leaked by the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) to various media outlets.

"Again, unfortunately, I find myself forced to deny the latest media hoax involving me," Ferrari said in a statement on his website, 53x12.com, continuing, "I have not worked with Astana for 10 years and I have not raced bicycles in over 20 years. I have not worked with Astana for 10 years and have not raced bicycles in over 20 years," he continued.

"My response to the 'secret report' referred to by 'Politiken' is as follows:

'I have had no relationship with Team Astana athletes for over 10 years.

"I have not been to Monaco or Nice for at least 12 years.

"I have never ridden a scooter or motorcycle, nor competed against cyclists.

"I haven't been to the 2019 Volta a Catalunya; I haven't physically witnessed a single race since 1994.

"The 'report' is based on false reports from likely stakeholders."

"I am not based in a place called Lugano."

"I have never been convicted of doping."

Ferrari was a staff member of the US Postal team in July 2012 as part of a US Anti-Doping Agency investigation into the team led by Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel Luis García del Moral and José Martí, along with Luis García del Moral and José Martí, received lifetime bans for doping.

A year later, Ferrari was spotted training amateur riders in Bologna, Italy, and in 2014 he became embroiled in a lengthy Padua investigation involving allegations of money laundering and tax evasion, with 17 Astana riders linked to him. The investigation ended the following year without any sanctions.

Ferrari was last in the news in 2017, when he was found guilty of doping against biathlete Daniel Taschler and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. He was later cleared by an appeals court.