Two days ago, German television named Marcel Kittel (Project 1t4i) in an on-going doping investigation, but he hasn't done anything wrong. The German sprinter says it has been though to deal with the fact that his name has been mentioned in this investigation.

It is true that Kittel and two of his team mates, Patrick Gretsch and John Degenkolb, meet Dr. Andreas Franke at the Olympic training site in Erfurt, just as the broadcaster ARD said, but they haven't done anything wrong.

“The following facts are known to the team. As an 18-year-old sportsman from the region of Erfort and therefore part of this Olympic point of support, Marcel Kittel should contact the doctor concerned in case of illness. In 2007 and 2008, Marcel visited this doctor when he was ill. The doctor decided to treat him with the UV-treatment mentioned in the program of Sportschau,” the Team 1t4i project said in a press release.

“Project 1t4i cyclists John Degenkolb and Patrick Gretsch were also part of this point of support and visited this doctor in case of illness. Patrick Gretsch also received the UV-treatment from Dr. Franke. John Degenkolb has never received this treatment. Marcel Kittel, Patrick Gretsch and John Degenkolb have never had to pay any financial compensation to this point of support or the aforementioned doctor.”

The treatment was banned in 2011, which means that the three team mates have not broken the WADA code.

"It's not easy to describe what's happened to me in the last couple of days. For me there's one thing that's happened to me as a rider and then there's what happened to me as a person because I'm not just a rider, I'm also a human being," he told Cyclingnews.

"After I saw that report on German television I was really sad and really disappointed. It was like a nightmare and the hardest day in my life."

Today, the rider is set to start Etoile de Bessèges. It's a pity that his name has been mentioned, if he really hasn't done anything, because people remember things like this and the media remembers it. For the rest of his career, he will be suspected for having doped.

"I hope I can sleep well. The way the team has reacted to the story has given me a lot of confidence. But I was named in the case and because of that my name will always be connected to it. I know I did nothing wrong, my family know, my friends and my teammates know and that's the most important thing to me."