Cycling has been thrown into fresh turmoil after French judicial authorities opened a preliminary investigation into potential doping at Nairo Quintana’s team Arkea-Samsic on Monday, a day after the Tour de France ended in Paris. Arkea-Samsic’s leader on the Tour was Colombian Quintana, twice a runner-up and also a Vuelta and Giro d’Italia champion. “The elements gathered during the search will need further investigation and analysis,” Laurens said in a statement on Tuesday. Injection material can only be in possession of doctors as per the ‘no needle policy’ in place in cycling since 2011. Arkea-Samsic team manager Emmanuel Hubert said on Monday that the investigation did “not target the team or its staff directly”.

Source: The Star September 23, 2020 21:00 UTC