French court convicts 23 in doping ring

Former cycling coach Belgian Freddy Sergant was sentenced to four years in jail on Monday by a Bordeaux court for his involvement in a doping ring that supplied a cocktail of amphetamines, cocaine and heroin to riders in France and Belgium, according to reports from Reuters and the Associated Press. The sentencing comes amid the Operacion Puerto doping scandal that threw the Tour de France into chaos on the eve of the race.

Sergant received the harshest of 23 sentences that were handed down at the trial, with all of the defendants convicted. He was also fined more than 180,000 euros. He has already spent one year in custody pending the verdict. His wife, Monique, was given a one-year prison term.