Updated 14.51
TOUR DE FRANCE team Cofidis have suspended Frenchman Remy Di Gregorio over doping allegations, the team announced on the race’s first rest day today.
Di Gregorio was arrested following a police raid at his team’s hotel in Bourg-en-Bresse, several miles outside Macon in eastern France where the race will resume on the 10th stage tomorrow. A team statement said: “We have just learned that one of our riders, competing at the Tour de France, has attempted to resort to doping substances to improve his performance.
“At the current time, we have very little information about the facts of the case. However the suspicion on the rider concerned, Remy di Gregorio, leaves us with no choice but to hand down the strictest possible sanctions.
“Remy di Gregorio is therefore immediately suspended, provisionally, while we await more ample information on the case. If the suspicions are confirmed, he will be sacked on the spot — in accordance with the stipulations in his contract and in line with the ethical policy of the team.”
It is not the first time one or several riders from Cofidis have been embroiled in a doping affair. Under pressure from organisers the team voluntarily left the race in 2007 when an Italian rider, Cristian Moreni, tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin).
In 2007, current Tour de France leader Bradley Wiggins, now of Team Sky, was part of the Cofidis team that went home after the 16th stage. Tour de France officials have yet to comment on the case.
But Cofidis hope to avoid the same fate.
The statement added: “We believe however that this isolated case should not place any doubt on the team’s continued participation in the Tour de France, or penalise those who have nothing to blame themselves for. The team will therefore line up for the race tomorrow morning.”
Cofidis stressed they had the strictest rules concerning ethics in the team.
“In recent years we have put in place an exemplary anti-doping programme that goes well beyond what is imposed by the international anti-doping authorities.”
Di Gregorio was arrested earlier today as part of an investigation into the organised trafficking of doping substances, Marseille magistrate Jacques Dallest told AFP. He was taken into police custody in Bourg-en-Bresse and was brought to Marseille for further questioning by investigating magistrate Annaick Le Goff, Dallest said.
Two other unidentified men, who are suspected of “having dealings” with Di Gregorio, were also taken into police custody.
