After the earlier impounding of the Quick Step team bus for searching by the French police, the vehicle has been returned to the team in advance of tomorrow’s first stage of the Tour de France.
A team spokesman has described the examination as ‘a routine check’ and said that there is a possibility that other teams will also face similar searches during the Tour.
“We have the bus here at the hotel now,” Alessandro Tegner told VeloNation this evening. “It’s been returned. What happened earlier is that we went to the press conference, came back with team bus, the riders went to their rooms. After an hour, the police arrived were here in the hotel. They asked to check the bus, and said that they preferred to do it in the police station not so far from hotel.
“We said that was no problem, and the sport director and the bus driver went there with them. They checked the bus for two hours, nothing was found and so it was allowed to return to the hotel.”
In a week when fellow ProTeams Omega Pharma Lotto and BMC Racing Team each faced undesired media attention due to investigations relating to ex-pro and VIP coach driver Wim Vansevenant and, respectively, the soigneur Sven Schoutteten, Tegner insisted that nothing should be read into the matter with the Quick Step bus.
“The police said it was a normal contract that they were doing now, that the national police in connection with the local police organised it. They said that there is a chance that they will do it again with other teams during the Tour.”
In a statement released by the team, it said that it “feels deeply harmed by the consequent media focus on what happened today, which we feel has damaged the team's image and the image of cycling in general.”
It appealed to the press to avoid speculation about the team and its riders.
The Quick Step lineup for the Tour includes former world champion Tom Boonen and current French road race champ Sylvain Chavanel.