UCI opens inquiry into Olympic champ Vinokourov’s alleged $200,000 bribe to fix race in 2010

GENEVA – The International Cycling Union opened an investigating Monday into allegations that Olympic champion Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan bribed a rival in order to win the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege race.

The UCI acted after receiving a file on the case from an Italian prosecutor who is leading a wider investigation of corruption in cycling linked to Dr. Michele Ferrari, a former adviser to Lance Armstrong.

“The UCI takes these issues extremely seriously,” the governing body said in a statement provided to The Associated Press. “We will ask Alexandre Vinokourov and Alexandr Kolobnev to attend a meeting at our headquarters in Aigle as soon as possible to provide the UCI with their response to the contents of the Padua inquiry dossier.

Vinokourov allegedly paid Russian rider Kolobnev €150,000 (nearly $200,000) after arranging a fix during their two-man breakaway in the April 2010 one-day classic.

The allegations were first made by a Swiss magazine last year. Italian daily Corriere della Sera published further details Saturday, including details of emails it claimed were exchanged by the riders in the days after the race.

“The UCI has been requesting information concerning these media allegations since December 2011, when they were first raised by the Swiss magazine L’Illustre,” the governing body said. “To date, the information provided to UCI was not sufficient to take legal action.

“Now, in the light of this additional information, gathered as part of the Padua inquiry, we will open an official inquiry into this issue.”

The probe could reveal further corruption involving some of the biggest names in professional cycling as the sport struggles to deal with the fallout of the Armstrong doping affair.

Padua prosecutor Benedetto Roberti helped the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency recently build the case which led to Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last month.

Vinokourov finished third to Armstrong in the 2003 Tour, the fifth of the Texan’s seven straight wins in cycling’s biggest race which were formally stripped by the UCI after American anti-doping officials revealed in devastating detail the massive doping by his teams.

The Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory was Vinokourov’s biggest after returning from a two-year suspension for blood doping at the 2007 Tour. He won the Belgian race with a long sprint to the line, finishing six seconds ahead of Kolobnev.

Vinokourov retired from professional riding after winning the road race at the London Olympics in July.

The 39-year-old rider has iconic status in his native Kazakhstan and has been expected to pursue a career in national politics.

Vinokourov is also expected to take a senior management role with his Kazakh-based Astana team, which could also by sanctioned by the UCI if the allegation is proved. Kolobnev’s Russian team Katusha could face scrutiny.

“If this inquiry reveals any team involvement, according to the rules, the UCI may also ask the License Commission to re-evaluate the awarding of UCI licenses to Team Astana and Team Katusha,” the governing body said.

“The UCI is absolutely committed to examining all issues arising from the Padua investigation constructively and transparently to safeguard the integrity of the sport.”