The first rest day of the Tour de France has not proven to be a peaceful one for the riders of the Cofidis team, with climbing specialist Remy di Gregorio arrested by French police at the hotel in Bourg-en-Bresse. Officers from the Office central de lutte contre les atteintes à l'environnement et à la santé publique (OCLAESP) acted on the instructions of a judge in Marseille in carrying out the swoop.
Di Gregorio was taken away while in his home city of Marseilles, two others have been detailed. It is not yet clear who they are.
According to various sources, the action is in relation to an investigation opened last year and concerns the alleged trafficking of doping substances. L’Equipe states that the investigation is linked to the Astana team, and that Di Gregorio may have been snagged due to a phone conversation made with an alleged supplier of doping products.
The Cofidis team sacked longtime manager Eric Boyer shortly before the Tour de France due to a lack of results. He had come on board in 2005 and helped clean up the team after previous doping scandals, but the results on the road were relatively modest.
The team replaced Boyer with Yvon Sanquer, who worked with the Astana team until the end of 2010. Di Gregorio joined that squad the following season, staying there for a year before moving to Cofidis over the winter.
The 26 year old was predicted to be the next great French climber, billed as a ‘new Richard Virenque’ by some. He won a stage of Paris-Nice last year and this season took a stage in the Vuelta a Asturias.
Fourth on a stage of the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné, his best result on this year’s Tour de France was fifteenth on stage four to Rouen.