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Update: French prosecutor opens preliminary investigation into doping allegations in Bahrain Victorious
Cycling news can confirm that the Bahrain Victorious were raided by French police at the Tour de France on Wednesday evening. The team confirmed the news directly to Cycling news Thursday morning.
“Nothing special, we have a police visit, they ask for the riders’ training records, they check the bus and that’s it,” said team boss Milan Erzen. Cycling news.
“They bothered the runners for an hour and at the end they said thank you. They didn’t tell us what the reason for the visit was, but we’ll find out today through lawyers.”
Bahrain Victorious confirmed Cycling news they would continue in the Tour de France and line up in Pau for the last mountain stage in Luz Arididen.
“Of course, why not, we will defend our positions,” they said.
The team also confirmed that the runners and staff hotels had been searched and no arrests had been made. Movistar was also located in the same hotel in Pau but they were not visited by the authorities.
Cycling news was informed by a source that up to 50 police officers were at the scene with Reuters later stating that “dozens” of officers were present until 2 a.m. local time.
After Erzen’s confirmation, the team made an official announcement on their website.
“After stage 17, we were greeted by several French police officers. We did not receive a reading warrant, but the team responded to all police requests,” said technical director Vladimir Miholjević.
“We are committed to the highest level of professionalism and compliance with all regulatory requirements and will always cooperate in a professional manner. The process has had an impact on the recovery and meal planning of our runners and as a professional team, the well-being of our team is a key priority. “
Bahrain general manager Victorious, Milan Eržen, last month defended the team against anonymous doping accusations that have surfaced in French media.
According to a report in The Parisian, two people, including a team manager, expressed their concerns about Bahrain Victorious’ recent performances at both the Giro d’Italia and the Critérium du Dauphiné. They both refrained from going on the case and admitted that they had no evidence to support the allegations or suspicions, but they nevertheless raised doubts about the team’s credibility.
The charges surfaced after the team achieved stellar results, with Damiano Caruso, who forged a career as a solid mountain domestic, securing his best ever result in the Giro d’Italia with a second place finish. There were also three stage victories for the team at the Critérium du Dauphiné with Mark Padun achieving two surprise performances to win back-to-back mountain stages in the race. Padun was not selected for the Tour de France.
Eržen, who has never been charged but was previously under UCI surveillance due to alleged links to the Operation Aderlass doping investigation, was quick to defend his team and riders when he was contacted by Cyclingnews last month.
“I can’t comment on anyone else and I will never comment on other teams,” he said.
“I don’t care what a sports director has to say. He can say whatever he wants. We do our job and we have invested in this team, in our riders, our coaches, our training camps and our Nutrition Everything Earlier or later results must come.
“I don’t need to explain to anyone. We have the same doping controls as the other teams, maybe more, I don’t know. And if someone comes to us for a doping control, we are always open. on this subject.”
Eržen highlighted a change in the team’s approach to racing, with a more aggressive strategy aimed at targeting stage wins more consistently rather than just racing for a top 10 or top five in the standings. general. According to Eržen, this is one of the reasons for the team’s success.
Currently in the Tour de France, Pello Bilbao is the team’s best rider overall, holding on to tenth place after finishing seventh at the top of the difficult Col du Portet climb on stage 17.
The team had to change course on the Tour after losing their overall leader Jack Haig in a stage 3 accident. They have since clinched two stage victories. Matej Mohorič claimed a solo victory on the breakaway on the 249.1km stage 7 rolling course, while Dylan Teuns attacked from the remnants of the stage 8 breakaway to close the gap with Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) on the Col de la Colombière then set off on his own to win.
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