Danish police raided the team hotel of Bahrain Victorious In Brondby, Denmark, at the behest of French prosecutors, with the search happening just ten minutes before the team gave it’s fitst Tour press conference. The team were also investigated during last year’s Tour de France when French police raided the team hotel in Pau, France. Nothing seemed to have come from that operation but the authorities stated that the searches were carried out after the possible “acquisition, transport, possession, import of a prohibited substance or prohibited method for use by an athlete without medical justification”.
In a statement issued on Thursday the team said: “Following the police search into some staff and riders’ homes on Monday, the Team Bahrain Victorious hotel was searched by Danish police at the request of the French prosecutors this morning (Thursday) at 5:30 am.
“The officers searched all team vehicles, staff and riders’ rooms. The team fully cooperated with all the officers’ requests, and the search was completed within two hours. No items were seized from the team.”
Groupama-FDJ team and their rider Stefan Küng responded angrily to the police presence. “It gives an image that we are all cheaters, and that’s not very nice,” Küng told Cyclingnews.com.
“I just hope that if there is something, that they are prosecuted. But I also hope that if there is nothing there is a public apology,” he added. “It’s good that there are prosecutions because I’m the first one to support any measure that helps to give our sport credibility and make sure that we, as clean riders, are not penalised. But in the same way I always ask for fair play, from everyone, from the authorities also.”
Stay tuned for updates in this case.
