Michele Ferrari (born 26 March 1953) is an Italian physician, cycling coach and author, who is mostly known for his role in supplying bicycle racers with performance-enhancing drugs, notably EPO.
He studied parameters of athletes in a variety of sports, such as track and field, cycling, swimming, skiing, and speed-skating.
One of Ferrari's earliest successes was coaching Francesco Moser to achieve the hour record in 1984, crushing Eddy Merckx's mark by more than a mile.
Initially Ferrari worked with Professor Francesco Conconi at the University of Ferrara, who developed testing techniques for human performance, using methods such as monitoring the heart rate during exercise and recovery.
Professional bicycle racers who were clients, in some capacity, of Ferrari include: Lance Armstrong, Michael Rogers, Alexander Vinokourov, Michele Scarponi, Denis Menchov, Giovanni Visconti, Yaroslav Popovych, Alessandro Bertolini, Gianluca Bortolami, Gianni Bugno, Mario Cipollini, Claudio Chiappucci, Roman Kreuziger, Armand de Las Cuevas, Fernando Escartín, Gianni Faresin, Giorgio Furlan, Ivan Gotti, Andreas Kappes, Kevin Livingston, Eddy Mazzoleni, Axel Merckx, Thomas Dekker, Abraham Olano, Daniele Pontoni, Tony Rominger, Paolo Savoldelli, Filippo Simeoni, Pavel Tonkov, Enrico Zaina and Beat Zberg.
[5] Ferrari was involved with the US Postal Service Cycling Team until October 2004, helping Armstrong train during several of his seven consecutive Tour de France victories.
Tyler Hamilton, Armstrong's teammate who later confessed to doping, worked with Ferrari for one year, according to his own account in a television interview.
[6] In October 2004, Ferrari was sentenced to one-year prison (suspended) and a fine of 900 euros, for sporting fraud and abusive exercise of the profession of pharmacist.
Simeoni testified that, in addition to a prescription of EPO hormone, "we spoke about Andriol (testosterone), which I was to use after hard training sessions, with the aim of increasing my muscular power.
In written testimony for the suit, Armstrong admitted under oath that Ferrari had been one of four individuals who had supplied him with PEDs during his cycling career.