A month and a half after a Swiss magazine published a claim that race winner Alexandre Vinokourov and Alexandr Kolobnev reached a financial agreement about who would win the 2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the UCI has confirmed that no action will be taken over the matter.
Speaking to VeloNation this morning, UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani stated that the governing body’s request for information about the claims has led to no details being provided by l’Illustré, the publication in question.
“We asked the Swiss magazine to provide evidences of allegations they’ve made, but the only reply we got was they couldn’t reveal their sources,” he said.
“So, we do not have any chance to go further in this affair.”
Illustré claimed in December that Vinokourov had offered Kolobnev €100,000 in the finale of the prestigious spring Classic when they were clear in the winning break. Both riders denied the suggestion, although the magazine said that it had emails showing that the deal had taken place.
After the claims were published, Vinokourov stated that he had begun legal action. He also said that his email account had been hacked.
The two riders finished first and second in the race, six seconds apart, with Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne), Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and then-world champion Cadel Evans (BMC) coming home one minute and four seconds back. On December 7th the UCI said it was willing to look into the matter which, if proven, would have violated regulation 1.2.081.
“Further to the information published today in the Swiss magazine « L’Illustré » concerning alleged misconduct at the 2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège race, the UCI has asked that the magazine provide the UCI with any evidence which would allow the facts to be clearly established,” it said in a statement then.
“Once the situation has been evaluated the UCI will decide, in accordance with the UCI Rules, whether any measures need to be taken.”
With l’Illustré unwilling to provide details, it appears that the matter is over.
Vinokourov is currently preparing for what will be his final season before retirement. Kolobnev will next month appear before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in connection with his positive test at the 2011 Tour de France. He was given a small fine in October by the Russian federation, but no racing sanction. This decision has been appealed by the UCI to CAS.