Marseille parquet update, results on the Tour de France
According to information from the specialized site Cyclingnews, confirmed by Reuters and RMC, the Bahrain Victorious team experienced an evening disrupted by a raid by the French police in its hotel on the Tour de France in Pau. The team itself confirmed the facts. “Nothing special, we had a police visit, they asked for the riders’ training records, checked the bus and that’s it,” team boss Milan Erzen told Cyclingnews. They disturb the runners for an hour and at the end they say thank you. They did not tell us what the reason for the visit was, but we will find out today through lawyers. “
Breaking: Police raid Bahrain Victorious hotel at Tour de France # TDF2021 https://t.co/pznYBiLOpl
– Cyclingnews.com (@Cyclingnewsfeed) July 15, 2021
About fifty gendarmes from the Central Office for the fight against attacks on the environment and public health (Oclaesp) were mobilized for this operation. The Marseille prosecutor’s office told Reuters that they had opened an investigation on July 3 for “acquisition, transport, possession, importation of a substance or method prohibited for use by an athlete without medical justification” against the Bahrain-Victorious team. It is in this context that a search was carried out at the hotel of the team on Wednesday evening in Pau.
The team has faced several doping suspicions in recent months, especially after Ukrainian rider Mark Padun’s two victories at the Critérium du Dauphiné, despite having no reference in the mountains before this race. The case of climber Damiano Caruso, second in the Giro 2021 after being sentenced by the anti-doping court of the Italian National Olympic Committee to a one-year suspension for “complicity in the attempt to acquire banned substances”, also raises questions.
The Bahrain-Victorious also occupies the first place in the team standings on the Tour, and has two team victories through Matej Mohoric and Dylan Teuns. Its sprinter Sonny Colbrelli stood out by passing the big bumps very (too?) Well, taking third place on the mountainous stage of Tignes, ahead of the best climbers of the Tour.