Drugs Bust on Giro?

uberwolf

Doesn't look like there's much in this TBH, but an insight into what the teams are upto regardless

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Strict Italian anti-doping laws and new WADA rules have caught out two cycling teams at the Giro d'Italia. Italian drug squad officers seized hyperbaric equipment from the Belgian Davitamon team and intercepted the Saunier Duval team doctor Maria Sagasti as she was sisposing of intravenous drips.

Hyperbaric machines replicate high-altitude environments and can aid the formation of red blood cells. They are not illegal under WADA rules but contravene a stricter Italian anti-doping law introduced in 2000.

Under new WADA rules introduced on January 1, intravenous drips containing proteins, vitamins and recovery products are no longer permitted unless used for 'acute therapeutic treatment'.

The Davitamon team said the equipment seized was an 'Alti-trainer' that artificially recreates the oxygen-thin air of altitude.

In theory, both teams have broken Italian law and could face trial for doping offences.

However, Davitamon team director Allan Peiper and Saunier Duval team director Pietro Algeri played down the police action.

POLICE SEARCH

"The police searched our hotel and our team bus but there's nothing to worry about," Peiper told Reuters.

"The Alti-trainer is something every team uses and it's not illegal under the UCI (International Cycling Union) rules.

"I don't know if it's illegal under Italian law but if we've got a problem so has every other team."

Algeri confirmed that the Saunier Duval team doctor is involved in the police investigations after being caught trying to dispose of "five or six drips".

"She panicked when she saw the police and tried to get rid of them but we're not worried about what has happened," Algeri told Reuters.

"We sent letters to the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and the Unione Cycliste International (UCI) before the Giro explaining exactly what medicines we were bringing to the Giro."

After hearing of the police action, the organisers of the Giro d'Italia announced they will only consider disciplinary action against the teams involved when they have information from Italian police.

"We haven't received any information from the police and so we cannot act for the moment," the director of the Giro Angelo Zomegnan said.

"We have to first understand if it's a single rider who is involved or if it's a whole team."

"However, it's important to remember that state laws of a country overrule the sporting rules."