Marseilles (AFP)

"I have been a clean runner all my sporting life": faced with suspicion of doping and the investigation which continues on Wednesday around his Arkéa-Samsic team, Colombian climber Nairo Quintana has stepped up to the plate, defending his integrity.

"No doping substance has ever been found (...). I have nothing to hide and have never had anything to hide", pleaded the leader of the French formation, who has just finished the Tour de France in anonymity, in a poor 17th place, more than an hour from the surprise winner, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.

"The authorities came to my room and found food supplements rich in vitamins perfectly legal, even if they were not known to the French authorities", explained the Colombian, 2nd of the Tour de France 2013 and 2015, in a statement.

After a search by investigators from Oclaesp, the central office for combating attacks on the environment and public health, in Méribel, during the 17th stage of the Tour de France, Arkéa-Samsic is still at the heart of 'a preliminary investigation opened by the public health pole of the Marseille prosecutor's office, even if the two police custody of two members of the team were lifted Tuesday "at the beginning of the night".

- Runners heard in free audition -

"The interested parties were left at liberty," said Dominique Laurens, the prosecutor of the Republic of Marseille Wednesday morning in a statement, about the doctor and the physiotherapist of the team placed in police custody Monday morning, in particular for " administration and prescription to an athlete, without medical justification, of a substance or method prohibited in the context of a sports event ".

The Marseille prosecutor's office did not specify whether the doctor placed in police custody is the Colombian practitioner to whom Arkéa-Samsic had called on to replace his doctor, absent from the Great Loop for health reasons.

Several riders of the team were also "heard in hearing free of suspect", had specified Ms. Laurens Tuesday evening in a previous press release.

These runners, whose identity has not been confirmed by the Marseille prosecutor's office, are suspected of having detained "without medical justification" a "prohibited substance or method" which may have served as doping, within the framework of the Tour de France .

- "The investigation is still ongoing" -

According to details provided to AFP by a source familiar with the matter, confirming information from the Journal du Dimanche and L'Equipe, the search of Oclaesp had targeted several riders of the Arkéa-Samsic team, including Dayer Quintana, Nairo's younger brother.

If the custody has been lifted, the investigation continues indeed: it "is still ongoing", insisted Wednesday morning Ms. Laurens in her press release, specifying that "investigations and hearings (should) be carried out before 'lead to a decision of the public prosecutor on the basis of the elements gathered ".

Asked by AFP about this investigation, the general manager of the Breton team declared that "of course" he supported his riders: "But if (...) elements came to confirm the veracity of doping practices, the team would immediately dissociate itself from such acts and would immediately take the necessary measures to put an end to the links which could unite them with unacceptable methods and always opposed ".

Arkéa-Samsic had taken on a Colombian accent at the last offseason by recruiting Nairo Quintana as leader, but also other South American riders, in particular Winner Anacona and Dayer Quintana, Nairo's younger brother.

The team is the direct heir to the Bretagne then Fortuneo training.

It had already taken on an additional dimension at the end of 2018 by signing the French climber Warren Barguil, who had just completed a remarkable Tour de France (two mountain stages, polka-dot jersey for the best climber).

© 2020 AFP