“Legal authorities from France, Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Poland and Slovenia have taken a concerted action against the use of banned substances in cycling races,” the press release reads.
“On the basis of a request from the French authorities, the Danish police also raided one of the Tour hotels in Copenhagen. This international activity was coordinated by Europol and Eurojust (the European Judicial Service, ed.).”
More details were also given about the searches, conducted between June 27 and 30. “A total of 14 sites were searched in six countries. Three people have been questioned. The investigation is ongoing and the evidence is being examined.”
“The properties of several riders and their staff were searched in Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Poland and Slovenia.” It is not known exactly which riders are involved. “A computer, a telephone and capsules with unclear contents were seized,” Eurojust added.
On Thursday, the Marseille prosecutor’s office already announced that house searches had been carried out this week at members of Bahrain Victorious, including the team manager, three riders, an osteopath and a team doctor. The headquarters of the Italian company WINNING SRL, which owns the plow, was also searched.
Electronic equipment (laptops, smartphones, hard drives, USB sticks), pharmaceutical substances and supplements were seized in Italy at the beginning of this week. During a house search in Poland, electronic devices and pharmaceutical substances were seized.
In Slovenia these included 412 capsules with brown contents and 67 capsules with white contents. Electronic devices were also seized in Spain. Three people were also questioned, Eurojust reported.
Bahrain Victorious did not want to answer questions about the rumors in the press chat before the Tour start on Thursday. “We would like more details just to understand the reason for this raid, but we don’t have any,” it said.
