Police Reveal Extent of Drug Haul

The curious case of Raimondas Rumsas's mother-in-law took a further twist yesterday with the publication of a list of 37 drugs found by customs men in the boot of the car driven by the cyclist's wife, Edita, on the day her husband finished third in this year's Tour de France.

The drugs were, according to Edita Rumsas, destined for her sick mother. But the list of substances leaked by French legal sources to the daily newspaper L'Equipe includes two different varieties of the male hormone testosterone and a corti- sone product widely used in cycling over the past 20 years, Delayed Action Kenacort, plus insulin and two different types of growth hormone.

There is a further twist that will intrigue the French and Italian investigators, who joined forces on Wednesday to interview Rumsas at his home in Tuscany for the first time since his wife's arrest. Three of the substances found in Edita Rumsas's possession were also found by investigators looking into possible drug use by the Juventus soccer team: the cortisone products Bentelan and Voltaren, and a mysterious drug named TAD600, apparently used to flush toxins out of the liver.

Rumsas has maintained since his wife's arrest that the drugs found in her car are nothing to do with him. He was tested several times during the Tour de France and came up negative each time. The only anomaly to attract the interest of drug testers was a rise in his blood thickness level - haematocrit - during the race when, according to the laws of physiology, it should have diminished.

The only item in the car that has been directly linked to the Lithuanian cyclist is an envelope bearing his name which contained six syringes ready for use. They contained a colourless liquid which is still being analysed, as are several foil packages of powders and pills with no name on them.

Several of the drugs are on the IOC's list of banned substances. Among these are the growth hormone norditropin and a dwarfism cure, Geref, which stimulates the body's natural production of growth hormone. Neither is detectable by current drug tests. The suitcase in the car contained eight Androderm patches, which release the male hormone testosterone slowly into the body, enabling the level to be maintained without breaching limits considered "natural".

As well as "natural" aids to maintaining health, such as large vitamin B and E tablets, there were also items similar to those found when police raided the Giro d'Italia last year: three different kinds of caffeine tablets and a preloaded syringe of insulin, which is banned for all but diabetics as it can enhance sugar uptake after exercise and counter the diabetic effect of growth hormone.

Some of the products are readily available through US internet sites. Some are apparently homeopathic, such as Spascupreel, a stomach remedy containing the poisonous herb belladonna, and testis compositum, available on the internet from an English company and supposed to stimulate testosterone production.

Edita Rumsas has been detained in Bonneville, in the French Alps, for six weeks, despite three appeals, diplomatic protests and demonstrations in front of the French embassy in the Lithuanian capital Riga. The investigating team will remain in Tuscany this week to interview Rumsas and members of his Lampre-Daikin team.