World cycling governing body the International Cycling Union (UCI) are to investigate claims made by Swiss and Italian newspapers that retired Olympic cycling champion Alexandre Vinokourov paid off a rival to win his second Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic in 2010.
The UCI — under pressure to clean up the image of the sport in the wake of the Lance Armstrong affair — said it had summoned both riders to Switzerland “to explain themselves regarding the events concerning them.”
The body, which faces a US$2 million claim for damages from an Australian clothing firm over allegations the organization failed to crack down on doping, also told reporters it had received a dossier on the matter from the Italian state prosecutor’s office in Padua.
UCI said it would assess any information to which it was privy on the matter “constructively and transparently” in order to “safeguard the integrity of the sport.”
Vinokourov, banned for blood doping between 2007 and 2009, faces claims he paid Russian rival Alexandre Kolobnev 150,000 euros (US$191,800) to secure his second victory in cycling’s oldest one-day classic.
The initial accusations were made by Swiss magazine L’Illustre last year — since when UCI says it has been looking into the affair.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera followed up this week as it published e-mails between the riders that appears to support the accusations.
A first e-mail sent from Kolobnev to Vinokourov the day after the race allegedly reads: “I don’t know if I did the right thing. I didn’t do it for the contract [money], but out of respect for you and for the situation you were in. Even my wife was disappointed I finished second.”
Vinokourov’s second victory in “La Doyenne” was his biggest win since he returned from a doping ban a year earlier.
The same e-mail from Kolobnev, which allegedly contained details of a bank account in Switzerland, adds: “Now I’m waiting patiently. Take my details and delete this email.”
Vinokourov reportedly answered several days later: “Hi Kolobok [Kolobnev’s nickname] I’m sorry I didn’t answer you earlier. Don’t worry, you did the right thing... You said yourself that what goes around comes around and God sees everything. I will respect our deal. You’ll have to wait a while. Vino.”
The newspaper claims two payments were then made to Kolobnev, the first of 100,000 euros on July 12, 2010, and the second of 50,000 euros on Dec. 28, 2010.
After his Liege win, Vinokourov — when asked about its significance after his doping ban — refused to discuss details of his doping past, telling reporters: “It’s proof you can win without doping.”
Vinokourov, Kazakhstan’s biggest sports star of his generation, stunned the field at the Olympic road race in August to win gold, then announced his retirement from the sport and is set to manage the Astana team next year.
When Paddy Dwyer arrived in China in 1976, crowds jostled to catch a glimpse of him and his companions — the first Western soccer team to play in the country. China was emerging from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, and on the brink of market reforms that would take the country from economic stagnation to explosive growth. “All we could see was lines of people running beside our bus, trying to look in the windows, to see their first visual of a white person,” he said. “It was all bicycles,” he said. “There were very few cars to be seen.” Dwyer,
Jannik Sinner continued his quest to become the first man in history to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danish qualifier Elmer Moller at the Madrid Open on Sunday. The world leader extended his winning streak to 19 matches, a run that began early March in Indian Wells, and he has captured 24 consecutive victories at the Masters 1000 level, dating back to the Paris Masters last October. Searching for a maiden title at this level on clay, Sinner advanced to the round of 16 at the Caja Magica with a 77-minute performance against
Some of Clearlake Capital Group’s largest investors are growing increasingly concerned about how much time the company’s co-founders are spending on sports investments as they have struggled to complete the fundraising for the private equity firm’s latest flagship fund. One of Clearlake’s co-founders, Behdad Eghbali, has been spending what some investors described as a disproportionate amount of time on the firm’s investment in Chelsea Football Club in recent months. Now, co-founder Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, are nearing a record US$3.9 billion deal to acquire the San Diego Padres. That personal investment by Feliciano has set off the latest
A new NZ$683 million (US$404 million) stadium that was a symbol of Christchurch’s struggle to rebuild after a deadly earthquake struck the New Zealand city is to host its first match tomorrow in front of a sellout crowd. A magnitude 6.2 earthquake killed 185 people in February 2011 and toppled or damaged buildings, including the city’s old Lancaster Park. The stadium, which hosted international rugby and cricket, and was home to the Canterbury Crusaders, was badly damaged and never reopened. It was bulldozed in 2019 and turned into sports fields, leaving the Crusaders without a permanent home. Government funding for a new stadium was
RSS