UCI to investigate Vinokourov bribe claims

PARIS - Reuters

The International Cycling Union (UCI) will open a probe into allegations that Olympic champion Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan bribed Russian Alexandre Kolobnev to win the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, the governing body said on Nov. 5.

Vinokourov won the one-day race by beating Kolobnev in a two-man finish.

The investigation is starting because the UCI has received a case file from an Italian public prosecutor who is investigating alleged corruption in cycling.

“Now, in the light of this additional information we received last week from the Italian prosecutor we are opening an investigation into the matter,” UCI President Pat McQuaid told Reuters. “Both riders have been summoned to UCI headquarters.”

According to email exchanges between the two riders published by the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Vinokourov agreed to pay Kolobnev 150,000 euros for the win.

It was the Kazakh rider’s biggest victory since his comeback from a two-year ban he was handed for testing positive for blood doping on the 2007 Tour de France.