UCI to request evidence on Vinokourov bribery allegations

International Cyclists Union (UCI) is going to request Swiss magazine l’Illustré to provide evidence confirming its statements accusing Kazakhstan cyclist Aleksander Vinokourov of bribing Russian sportsman Aleksander Kolobnev to win Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in 2010, Velosportnews.ru writes. The UCI is planning to receive full information about this incident before discussing any possible consequences. “The UCI has requested the magazine to provide any evidence of credibility of the published information. As soon as the evidences are reviewed, the UCI will decide whether any kind of measures have to be taken according to the rules. Until this stage of the investigation is complete, the UCI is not planning to give any further comments on this issue,” the UCI message states. On December 7 Swiss media published information that Vinokourov bought the victory in Liege-Bastogne-Liege race from Russian Alexandre Koblenev in 2010 for 100 thousand Euro ($133 thousand). Vinokourov denies any involvement and is going to sue l’Illustré. Should the fault of Vinokourov and Kolobnev be confirmed, the sportsmen could be disqualified. One of the points of the UCI code states: “Riders shall sportingly defend their own chances. Any collusion or behaviour likely to falsify or go against the interests of the competition shall be forbidden”.