Zabriskie joined Garmin in 2008 with Vande Velde and Danielson. He raced on USPS from 2001 to 2004. According to the USADA Johan Bruyneel introduced him to doping. Zabriskie also states that he took drugs during his time with CSC. Bruyneel is fighting USADA charges.
“After distinguishing myself in an important race, management presented me with drugs and instructed me on how to proceed. I was devastated. I was shocked. I had never used drugs and never intended to. I questioned, I resisted, but in the end, I felt cornered and succumbed to the pressure. After one week I stopped. I subsequently succumbed in less than a handful of confined instances never making it a systematic part of my training practices or race routines. But it happened and I couldn’t be sorrier. It was a violation – a violation not only of the code I was subject to, but my personal and moral compass that I had set out to follow. I accept full responsibility and was happy to come forward and tell USADA my whole story; I want to do my share to help bring this entire issue to the fore and ensure a safe, healthy, and clean future for cycling.
I returned to being 100% clean long before the Anti-Doping Commitment was issued for riders to sign in 2007. I was one of the first to sign. I embraced complete transparency. When Slipstream surfaced I was eager to join for all that it stands for and its unwavering commitment to clean cycling. I only wish a team like this had existed when I was a neo pro. Cycling started out as a refuge for me and I want to play my part in making it the sport I had always hoped it would be and know that it can be.”
It’s reported that in 2003, when Zabriske was just 23, he and Michael Barry met with Bruyneel and team doctor del Moral in Spain.
“It was Zabriskie’s third year on the team and he had sought refuge through cycling after his father died, the affidavit said. On that day, Bruyneel and del Moral brought injections for Zabriskie and Barry, including EPO. Zabriskie was “shocked,” according to his affidavit: “David was cornered. He had embraced cycling to escape a life seared by drugs and now he felt that he could not say no and stay in his mentor’s good graces.” He took the drugs.
