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The Tour de France, which has just ended, is threatened by a doping scandal: the Marseille prosecutor has confirmed media reports that a preliminary investigation has been launched on suspicion of doping.
Two people “from the immediate vicinity” of a driver have already been detained, initially the names were not mentioned, it was said on Monday (09/21/2020).
However, according to coinciding French media reports, it should be the Arkea-Samsic team and Dayer Quintana, brother of Colombian cycling star Nairo Quintana. Researchers also focus on medical personnel.
Many drugs and medical devices have been found
The team’s accommodation is said to have been examined on Wednesday during the French tour. The prosecutor Dominique Laurens confirmed that the investigation had been opened because “many medical devices and medicines were found” during a search. Among them, in particular, a “method that can be described as doping”.
Arkea-Samsic CEO Emmanuel Hubert declined to comment on the developments Monday. According to the prosecutor Laurens, investigations are being carried out for the prescription of a prohibited substance and the aid and incitement to the ingestion of this substance.
Nairo Quintana and his team had continued the tour despite the raid. On Sunday the peloton arrived in Paris, the Colombian finished 17th overall, more than an hour behind the winner Tadej Pogacar.
Significantly fewer tests since January
On this year’s tour there were no real suspicions, no data on possible doping crimes, but some astonishing achievements. The winner Pogacar and fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic in second place also fell in the twilight.
Due to the crown crisis, only half of the tests were conducted between January and the end of August than in the same period last year, the Anti-Doping Commission for Cycling (CADF) said. The normal level was recently reached again. Roglic’s top aide Tom Dumoulin complained before the tour that it “hadn’t been tested for months,” Romain Bardet (“It’s been forever”) and Thibaut Pinot (“No testing since October 2019 “). Concern. Bardet’s teammate Nans Peters even asked, “Do scammers have a free hand right now?”
Those: sportschau.de
