Kazakhstan Cycling Federation stood up for Vinokourov

Kazakhstan Cycling Federation considers the charges that were brought against the prominent Kazakhstan cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov to be groundless, Tengrinews.kz reports, quoting Interfax-Kazakhstan. Swiss L’Illustre wrote that the cyclist had bought a victory in the prestigious Liege-Bastogne-Liege race in 2010. “Kazakhstan Cycling Federation is always committed to the purity of the sport and considers our cyclists being adherent to the principles of the sport, too,” the message from the Federation, sent out on Wednesday, reads. “Alexandre Vinikourov was a ProTeamAstana leader and is its’ leader now. The cyclist is a living symbol of a successful sportsman, and he is an excellent example for future champions of the country, not only in cycling but in other sports as well. We are sure that Alexandre will continue his victorious career and will make a worthy contribution to the public life of the country,” the Federation added. Earlier the Swiss magazine L’Illustreaccused Alexandre Vinokourov of buying a victory from Russian Alexandre Kolobnev. The charges were based on the fact that the sportsmen talked to each other during the race. Besides, a 100 000 euro ($133 000) money transfer from Vinokourov to Kolobnev was discussed in the emails discovered in Vinokourov’s hacked email box. Meanwhile Vinokourov said to the journalists that he had never bought a single victory in his career and he always fought to win. He also added that he had loaned 100 000 euros to the Russian cyclist.