Cycling, suspicions of doping on the Tour: the Quintana brothers in the storm, the team washes its hands

There is a storm around the Quintana brothers, Nairo and Dayer, and their Arkea-Samsic. The accusations made by Dominique Laurens, the Marseille lawyer, after the hotel searches on Wednesday during the Tour de France are clear: “The investigation concerns a small part of the cyclists. Many medical devices, including medicines, have been discovered in their personal effects, but also and above all a method that can be classified as doping ”. The first measure was the arrest of two people who according to Le Parisien would be a doctor and a masseur.

Emmanuel Hubert, general manager of the French team, tries to distance himself. His position is entrusted to a press release: “Last week a registration was made at our hotel, as I had already confirmed today to the different media. This search involved a limited number of riders, as well as their entourage, not salaried by the team. The team, its managers and staff, who are summoned by the media during these hours, are not questioned at all and consequently they are not even kept informed of any element related to the investigation that, I repeat, does not concern the team or the staff. “Words that raise questions: How is it that people who were not paid by the team during the Tour were in contact and worked with the athletes? How did they get into the” bubble “?

Distances

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But Hubert underlines his desire to distance himself: “Obviously we support our riders, but if their involvement and the veracity of doping practices are confirmed, the team would immediately dissociate itself from those behaviors and would immediately take the necessary measures. any link to the use of doping substances, a practice we have always fought against. Our team, which has been part of the MPCC for the last twenty years, has demonstrated its adherence to ethics and has always positioned itself in favor of the fight against doping ”.

Manager

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Nairo and Dayer Quintana have been at Arkea-Samsic this season. Nairo in the last 8 seasons had raced there with Movistar, with whom he closed relationships in a stormy way. Dayer, for his part, after five seasons at Movistar in 2019 had raced in Italy with Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia. His manager is Giuseppe Acquadro, who cannot be reached by phone at this time.