2023-11-11 05:15:22
The shadow of doping hangs over Spanish cycling. Runners from the Caja Rural-Seguros team are accused of having been the liaison with the sulphurous Dr Meynar, indicted for doping.
Spanish cycling is shaken by a new doping affair. The Spanish press has in fact revealed in recent days that the Caja Rural-Seguros team had been the target of serious doping accusations during the last Tour of Spain. On this occasion, all the groups received from an anonymous recipient a 23-page document revealing that certain members of the Caja Rural were in contact with the doctor Marcos Maynar.
Pursued by the Spanish courts for drug trafficking and money laundering, Dr Meynar is at the heart of the affair which caused the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez to be dismissed by the Astana team and then suspended by the UCI for a “potential anti-doping rule violation for use and possession of a prohibited substance in the weeks leading up to the 2022 Tour of Italy”.
In the document sent to the other teams present at the Vuelta, mention is made in particular of an exchange between one of the riders and Dr Meynal in winter 2021 in which the doctor sent instructions on the use of prohibited substances (dichloroacetic acid, theophylline, thiotacid and Actovegin). Recommendations made without the knowledge of the Caja Rural training.
La Caja-Rural porte plainte
The Spanish team was quick to react. “ The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team filed a complaint with Guadia Civil in which it informed Guadia Civil of the events that occurred during La Vuelta a España 2023. The team was the victim of partial, biased and decontextualized from a police report recorded in a court file, she wrote in a press release. The information that appears refers to a small part of a legal procedure investigating possible crimes once morest public health and sport in which neither the team nor any of its members are involved. This broadcast is protected by anonymity with the sole objective of harming the team and its members. »
“It was sent by email and postal mail to people directly linked to professional cycling with the aim of damaging the reputation of this Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team. Considering all of the above, the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team informed the Guardia Civil of these events through the corresponding complaint in case they might constitute a crime, she continued. Since the complainant does not know the person(s) responsible for the events, the complaint is not directed once morest a specific person, and this is expressly reflected in the complaint. In any case, and without prejudice to the above, the team expressly reserves any action that might correspond to the person or persons responsible for the malicious and partial dissemination of the reference report to preserve our reputation, our image and all type of rights that may have been violated. »
1699681927
#scandal #peloton
