A French judge began legal action against Italian cyclist Dario Frigo and his wife on Wednesday after police discovered doping products in her car during the Tour de France, officials said.
Frigo and his wife, Susanna, were arrested after customs officials and local police found about 10 doses of the banned endurance-boosting hormone EPO in her car at the Albertville toll station, officials said.
After three hours of questioning, an investigating judge placed Susanna under investigation — a step short of formal charges — for allegedly importing prohibited and contraband products, and trying to help another person take the banned substances.
The cyclist was placed under investigation for allegedly having an active role in the import of prohibited products.
They were released free under judicial watch, but will be required to each pay â,¬30 000 bail.
Prosecutor Henri-Michel Perret said he did not seek to have the couple detained because they were facing only a possible misdemeanour for customs law violations.
If convicted, they could face up to three years in prison and a fine worth twice the value of the banned products.
Susanna was heading to Courchevel — the finish line of Tuesday’s 10th stage of the Tour — with what appeared to be vials of EPO in a thermos filled with ice.
The vials have been sent to Luxembourg to be analysed.
She allegedly told investigators that the products contained EPO and were for her husband, an official close to the case said on condition of anonymity.
Frigo, of the Fassa Bortolo team, was 52nd in the overall Tour standings after the 10th stage.
Frigo was arrested on Wednesday at the team hotel, Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc said, calling the rider ”a recidivist” who has had run-ins with police and anti-doping controls.
Leblanc said drug cheats need to be expelled.
”If the accusations are confirmed, Frigo would show that he’s part of this generation of riders who have understood nothing, who didn’t want to listen,” Leblanc said.
Team spokesperson Andrea Agostini said Frigo’s arrest does not involve the team.
”This affair only concerns Dario Frigo, and not the team,” Agostini said.
Police said the investigation is unlikely to result in further inquiries into the team or the race.
Frigo was connected last year, along with nine other cyclists and two physical therapists in Italy, with a drug scandal at the 2001 Giro d’Italia. That case is pending.
The 31-year-old has been in the Fassa Bortolo team since 2003.
He won the Paris-Nice race in 2001, and the Tour of Romandie in 2001 and 2002. He was also Italian time-trial champion, and took the Zurich championship in 2002.
Russia’s Evgeni Petrov was expelled from the Tour de France before the 10th stage after failing a blood test.
He was the first rider barred from this year’s race following a blood test.
”We can’t imagine that the scourge of cheating is over,” said Christian Prudhomme, a Tour director. ”If it turns out that people who cheat get kicked out, that’s what we want with a big kick in the rear.” — Sapa-AP