Pro rider tipped off police after being offered banned substances
It's all about blood - performance-enhancing methods abound in pro cycling (Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Police in Catalonia have made seven arrests as part of an investigation into an alleged doping ring based on the city of Girona. None of the seven are professional cyclists. However, one well-connected Spanish journalist has said that a former Kelme pro rider, Jordi Riera, is among those detained, which has been backed up by details in the Catalan press.
Catalan police are reported to have found a number of banned products during five searches undertaken as part of the investigation. Among the products found were clenbuterol, nandrolone, growth hormone and EPO. All are said to have been imported into Spain from Portugal and Andorra by one supplier. Members of the group subsequently sold them on in local gyms to amateur athletes, triathletes and cyclists.
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Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling. He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014).
