Alexander Vinokourov accused of paying 100,000 Euros to Alexandr Kolobnev
Swiss magazine L’Illustre stated that the Russian cyclist Alexander Vinokourov bought the Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory in 2010. The magazine mentioned that Vinokourov paid an amount of 100,000 Euros to Alexandr Kolobnev of Team Katusha to help him secure
the first position at the event.
Vinokourov denied the news and stated that he has never in his life done anything of that nature and has always fought for victory fairly.
The final pursuit at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2010 was between Alejandro Valverde, Philippe Gilbert, Cadel Evans, Kolobnev and Alexander Vinokourov.
Kolobnev was leading the race till the final kilometre when Alexander launched an attack and secured the victory.
Kolobnev mentioned that he tried his best but it was only a matter of the stronger man winning the race in the final sprint.
He said, “We knew that if we would arrive together I could beat him [Vinokourov]. He was afraid of me but I was afraid of his attacks, too. When he had attacked earlier on the Côte de Saint-Nicolas I was already on my limit. Anyway, it's a nice podium with
Vinokourov and Valverde there".
L’Illustre also mentioned that Kolobnev passed on the bank details for a bank located in Locarno Switzerland and the payment was deposited in the same account.
Vinokourov replied on the allegations, "It's my private life. It's another story to blacken my name. I often loan money left and right".
The publication also revealed that emails have been exchanged between the two cyclists after the race.
Vinokourov complained about his email account been hacked prior to the report, which now connects the two stories.
The former Astana cyclist returned from a two year ban due to doping charges and joined his former team.
He won the Stage 3 at the Tour of the Basque Country and finished 3rd overall at the Tour de Romandie. He is now planning to retire from the sport but the news has not been announced officially as yet.
The 38-year-old was furious about the accusations made by the Swiss magazine. He mentioned that he did not understand the reason why some people are always trying to pull him down. He claimed that the press has always targeted him personally.
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