Vinokourov and Kolobnev charged with private corruption
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The race winning break of Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha).(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alexander Vinokourov (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha) launches an attack(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A Liège court is investigating Katusha rider Alexandr Kolobnev and former rider, and current Astana general manager, Alexandre Vinokourov for private corruption, according to Belgian website Sudinfo.be. The Investigation is looking into the claims that Vinokourov bought his 2010 Liège-Bastogne- Liège victory from Kolobnev.
According to the report, judge Philippe Richard charged the pair with public corruption in May. The main evidence involves two payments of 100,000 and 50,000 Euros from Vinokourov to Kolobnev. The first payment was made on July 12, 2010, while the second was made five months later on December 28. They are also looking into a 150,000 Euro payment from the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation into Vinokourov’s bank account.
In 2012, an Italian police investigation into Dr Michele Ferrari revealed the presence of the payments. The UCI later announced that they would investigate the victory, but any reprimand is yet to be issued. A year earlier, L'Illustrerevealed emails between the two riders, seeming to indicate that some sort of agreement had been made during the race.
A line from one of Kolobnev’s emails read “Here is a copy of all my bank information and clear it from your mail box, or my balls may be cut off.”
