"I have nothing to hide" ... Quintana reacts to the opening of an investigation

Nairo Quintana during the Tour de France 2020. -

The custody of a doctor and a physiotherapist from the Arkéa-Samsic team continued on Tuesday evening as part of a preliminary investigation opened for suspicions of doping on the Tour de France, announced the Marseille prosecutor's office .

"At this time, the custody is still continuing, hearings being in progress," said prosecutor Dominique Laurens in a statement released in the early evening, specifying also that the team's riders had "been heard in free hearing of suspects ”Monday.

New auditions are coming

The magistrate had announced Monday the opening of a preliminary investigation, evoking in particular the discovery "of many health products including drugs in their personal affairs, but also and especially a method which can be qualified as doping".

The two members of the medical team, meanwhile, had been in police custody since late Monday morning in particular for "administration and prescription to an athlete, without medical justification, of a substance or method prohibited in the context of an event. athletic ".

"The elements collected during the searches will require additional investigations, in particular analyzes" and new hearings, added the prosecutor of Marseille.

Arkéa-Samsic's manager reacts to the opening of a doping investigation via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/c9zKywPKCv

- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) September 22, 2020

Quintana takes the floor

Silent until then, Nairo Quitana finally broke the silence to deny any doping on his part.

“I mean that no doping substance has ever been found (…) I have nothing to hide and never had anything to hide (…) I have been a clean runner throughout my sporting life” , the Colombian said Tuesday evening in a statement.

The maximum penalties incurred by caregivers are five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.

The runners risk five years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros for “illicit transport and possession of poisonous substances”.

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